The More Things Change
by Shadow Master
Summary: (BtVS/InuYasha/Nurarihyon no Mago)[YAHF] Good intentions. Everyone has them from time to time and they do no harm. However in this case it will lead to a path unseen and a heritage to be claimed.
1. A Parade Begins, A Tail Wags

"The More Things Change…" by Shadow Master

(BtVS/InuYasha/Nurarihyon no Mago)

email: Ryley [underscore] Breen

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein (BtVS/InuYasha/Nurarihyon no Mago). They are the property of their creator and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I write these fanfics because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my works. I will likely never make a profit off of these works until the day I die. Therefore I would appreciate it if you would refrain from filing a lawsuit against me and sending your very expensive lawyers after me for money. I can assure you that no matter what you wouldn't get enough to cover even a tenth of your legal fees so there'd be no point to the lawsuit since it'd cost you more than you'd get from me.

Note: As with pretty much all of my fanfics I'll do what I can to stick as close to canon as I can but only to the extent that it doesn't interfere with the story that I want to tell. If I was doing something official on co-operation with the people behind these shows then perhaps I would do my best to stick 100% to canon but since this is fanfic I figure it gives me a little bit of leeway. So if you're one of those readers that absolutely hates stories that split off or veer away from canon then I suggest you stop right here and leave.

Note 2: As far as timelines are concerned in the BtVS one this occurs during the much used Halloween episode (It's just so convenient for setting up my kind of stories). In the InuYasha this would take place between anime episodes 82 and 83. As for the Nurarihyon no mago universe it'd take place at the end of "Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: Demon Capital".

 _The More Things Change…_

 _ **Approaching the Store Called Ethan Rayne's Costume Store, 3:00p.m**_

 _ **Buffy's POV**_

"HURRY UP, XANDER!" she yelled over her shoulder as she advanced towards the entrance to the costume store closest to the high school. "WE HAVE TO HURRY!"

"I'M HURRYING! NOT ALL OF US ARE 'GIFTED' LIKE YOU!" Xander yelled back at her, sounding a little out of breath.

That took a little of the snippiness out of her sails as she realized that she had been putting a little too much Slayer speed into her running but she couldn't help it. Not only had she been roped into chaperoning a bunch of bratty elementary students as they went trick or treating by that troll Snyder, but now she had less than an hour to get a costume, get into it and then get back to the school. The Principal obviously had no clue about the proper length of time a modern teenage girl needed to pick out just the right costume and then make herself presentable. Sure, she doubted that the cookies and milk crowd would be impressed but, since she intended to go straight from her 'volunteer work' to her date with Angel, the extra prep work was necessary. As such she wasn't going to take too much time looking through what the store had to offer and would likely take the first thing that looked like it might impress Angel. Personally she was hoping for something like the pictures she'd seen in Giles' books but she knew that the odds of a new store having a dress like that couldn't be that good. Still, she'd look, she'd hope and with a little luck the Hellmouth wouldn't saddle her with the kind of misfortune that her social life tended to have since becoming the Slayer.

She waited at the entrance to the costume store for Willow and Xander to catch up with her but once they had the three of them went inside, finding the place pretty busy. There were a few people she recognized from her classes and others that she'd witnessed Snyder roping into chaperone work, but there were a few strangers in the mix as well. Everyone was looking at what the store had to offer and she had to admit the place was well stocked if nothing else. Everything from decorations to costume accessories to full costumes was arrayed throughout the store, with the quality varying from item to item. Some things were made of quality material and put together by someone who took their time to get it right while other things were barely worth the amount on their price tag. It gave her hope that she might be able to find something to her liking but she'd have to find it fast because time was running out.

"Alright, let's split up and take a look around. We'll meet back here in ten minutes and if one of us hasn't found anything, we'll all look together. Okay?" she asked, looking to her two friends.

Both of them nodded to her but she could tell that Xander was still feeling a little angry towards her for what happened in the student lounge during lunch. While she did not regret roughing up Larry, since she'd heard every word he'd said to Xander, she understood now how things must've looked from her friend's point of view. It'd be the same thing if Xan treated her like some defenseless little girl who couldn't take care of herself. Sure, she was the Slayer, so the idea of her being helpless was ridiculous, but being treated as such by a friend when she had a different opinion made the comparison work. She wouldn't have liked being saved like that, so she could understand where her friend was coming from and was just about done working up to saying she was sorry to him. She'd say something when the ten minutes were up but until then she had to look around the store to see if her much hoped for dress was somewhere waiting to be found.

Walking around she looked with both her hands and her eyes for something that would catch her interest but, aside from a few startling moments with some flashing plastic pumpkins (at which she totally did not scream in fright, no matter what anyone else said), nothing really jumped out at her. There were a few of the usual superhero costumes but of course they were mostly made of spandex or leather and that immediately removed them from her list of possibilities. While she took pride in her good looks, she refused to wear something that'd have guys ogling her like she was a piece of meat for them to take a bite out of. Cordelia might be slutty enough to go for something like that but then being a trophy girlfriend or wife probably came naturally to the rich girl. Other costumes were more modest but also of quality but they were too butch for what she had in mind for her date with Angel. As her internal clock reached nine minutes she sighed as she couldn't find anything that struck her as a good costume choice, so she headed back to the open area just inside the store.

"What'd you get?" she asked as she saw Willow come back with something in her hands.

"A time-honored classic!" Willow replied, holding up the plastic bag holding.

She had to sigh in disappointment at the sight because it only confirmed what she had hoped wouldn't be the case this Halloween. It had been a year and a half since she had first met Willow and since then she'd taken it upon herself to coax the redhead out of her shell in order to become the hottie she knew her friend could be. She'd known many girls like Willow back at her old high school, so she knew how easily any new boldness or confidence could be crushed, therefore she had taken things slow. The fact that her friend was quite useful helping out with the research and the computer stuff was a big help in improving the teenage genius' self-confidence, but clearly it wasn't quite at the level of 'daring' just yet.

"Okay, Will, can I give you a little friendly advice?" she asked, trying to break the truth to Willow gently.

"It's not spooky enough?" Willow asked, hazarding a guess at what the answer might be.

"It's just..." she replied, trying to come up with some sugarcoating but getting nothing. "You're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween!"

"Free candy?" Willow asked with a smile, clearly showing where her focus holiday-wise was at the moment.

She had to roll her eyes at that since it showed that the 'Halloween' folder in her friend's mind hadn't been updated since puberty hit.

To be fair, though, the free candy was a total plus.

"It's come as you aren't night! The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions," she replied, trying to make it sound like it'd be a blast to dress up as something different.

Instantly Willow took on a look of anxiety and fear that no doubt meant the teenager was picturing one humiliating possibility after another.

"Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz," Willow said quickly, shaking her head at the idea of doing anything wild.

"Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you," she said encouragingly before trying to think of something else to add on top of that.

Before she could, though, she sensed someone approaching and, given the odds, she figured it must be Xander back from his own perusal of the store.

"Hey, Xander!" Willow exclaimed, obviously grateful for a way to change the topic of discussion. "What'd you get?"

In response to the inquiry her only guy friend who wasn't her boyfriend held up a toy rifle for all of them to see and this almost made her roll her eyes. Apparently Willow wasn't the only one who didn't realize that Halloween was the perfect opportunity to break from their usual way of dressing and try something adventurous for a change. It was the same in both their cases but, while Willow reacted by being shy and hiding, Xander did it by distracting people with his own special brand of humor.

She did not like this one bit.

"That's not a costume," she pointed out as she began to fish for ammo she could use against the two natives of Sunnydale.

"I got fatigues from an Army surplus at home," Xander said, giving her a light glare before turning his gaze to Willow. "Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King, baby!"

This was NOT going to happen! Not on her watch! She was not going to let her friends pass up a perfect chance to leave their usual selves behind for a night and become something else!

"Put it back!" she ordered, putting words to her resolve. "You both are going to get better costumes for tonight even if we wind up having to change in the bathrooms at the school!"

She could see that both her friends they were prepared to argue with her and stick to their choices so, in a moment of determination, she decided to go the extra mile just this once.

"If you'll let me pick out better costumes for you, I'll… I'll pay for half of each costume," she said even though that'd take a bite out of her date money. "Think of it as an apology, Xander, for, you know, earlier."

This had a noticeable effect on both of them.

For Xander it was a look of pleasant surprise and she could just tell that his earlier anger towards her was lifting. This put her a little more at ease because, while she was reasonably sure that it would've blown over on its own after a week or so, it was still a relief for it to be happening now. She knew that she'd have to pick out a reasonably manly costume or he'd go right back on the defensive, but she was confident she knew guys well enough to pick the right outfit.

For Willow, the girl was clearly pleased that her friends were making up after the altercation at noon and this was apparently enough to make the redhead less nervous about a different costume. Again, though, like Xander, the academic girl would likely retreat like a spooked mouse if too daring a costume was proposed, so she'd have to strike a balance between sexy and modest. She'd already thought of a few possibilities already but would likely have to tone them down by half if she wanted them to pass Willow's inspection.

With a look between them Xander and Willow nodded to each other before turning to her, smiles on their faces.

"Okay, we graciously accept your offering and your apology," Xander said with his usual lopsided smile. "Let's see what you've got!"

With that the three of them went back into the aisles of the store, with her in the lead as she looked for the perfect costumes for her two friends. Never would she realize that by taking this course of action she'd lose the opportunity to get the dress that was a perfect match for what she'd seen in drawings from Giles' books. Instead of her getting the dress it would go to one Harmony Kendall who sadly would suffer worse than Buffy did in another timeline.

It was after all dangerous enough to be wandering around Sunnydale at night when you'd grown up with all the technology accessible to your average American.

It was even worse when you had the mind of an eighteenth century noblewoman with none of that knowledge and even less common sense.

 _ **The Men's Bathroom of Sunnydale High School, 3:45pm**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _Gotta hurry!_ he said as he hurried to wrap the black kimono around himself before securing it in place with a white cloth belt. _Got less than fifteen minutes to get to the student lounge or I'm detention bound._

After looking in the mirror to make sure it looked reasonable, he moved onto putting the toed socks and sandals that Buffy had insisted would go great with the costume she'd put together. According to her he was dressing up as a wandering samurai and he had to admit that that was a lot better than the his first choice of going as just another ground pounding soldier. True, it probably would've looked a great deal more impressive if he'd gone as a samurai in full armor and everything but what Buffy had chosen for him was better, given the weather Sunnydale had.

 _Looks good enough to me,_ he thought, finally satisfied with how the kimono and sandals looked on him.

It'd been a bit of a pain wrapping that long strip of white cloth around his stomach but he had to admit that, with the kimono a little open, it did make him look a little more like the real deal. Looking over to the bag resting in one of the sinks, he knew that there were only two more things to be added to his costume in order to make it complete. Too bad they were also the two things that he was a little bit hesitant about putting on due to the potential fodder it'd give the Cordettes and the jocks to slam his costume choice. The first was a wig of black hair that was long enough to go down all the way to his waist and, quite frankly, looked like it'd be better suited to a girl. However he had to grudgingly admit Buffy's point that, in all the samurai films and even the few anime he'd seen, guys from back in that time had long hair.

Probably not THIS long but still pretty long.

 _If I get heckled too badly I'll just take it off and stuff it in the kimono,_ he thought before turning his thoughts to the other item.

It was a Japanese sword that she'd picked out of a bin filled with swords of various types and he had to admit that, when he'd taken it out of its sheath, it'd looked pretty real to him. Sure, if you touched the blade or tapped it against something else you could tell immediately that it wasn't metal but for Halloween appearances meant more than authenticity. The problem he had with it was the fact that the hilt and the sheath were way more fancy than he remembered a samurai's katana should be, with blue, gold and white covering both surfaces. The hilt was primarily gold but it had engraved on it a fan of the variety you'd see in Asian areas of the world. The sheath was mostly blue but had gold and white engravings on it that looked like clouds or cranes in flight. All in all he'd been worried that it'd looked a little girly, or at least that is what others might thing when they saw him walking around with it. Buffy had suggested simply that if anyone asked, he just tell them that his wandering samurai received it as a gift from a feudal princess as a replacement for the one that'd been broken saving her life from a dozen assassins.

He had to admit that with an explanation like, that the blade did look a lot cooler.

He was just about to grab the wig so he could put it on properly when the door to the bathroom opened, admitting Larry and two of his thugs, with all three of them dressed as pirates. He'd hoped that they'd just take a dump and move on but when their eyes settled on him he knew that he was in for some bullying. It was definitely enough to make him relocate someplace else before putting on the wig or taking out the sword but, before he could move, the three cavemen blocked his only escape route.

"What you wearing there Harris? A dress?!" Larry asked with malicious curiosity.

"Bet he thinks he might get more dates dressed like that," Garry said before cruelly laughing at him.

"Only question is whether he'd get more guys than gals wearing that get-up!" Maury said speculatively before joining in on the laughter.

 _I swear the second these jocks blow a knee or break a leg ending their football careers, I'm going to be right there to celebrate like there's no tomorrow!_ he thought angrily even as he continued to try and figure out a way to escape his current predicament.

"Maybe we'll find out if we take a look in the bag!" Larry said before darting forward and grabbing the bag containing the rest of his costume.

He tried to take it back but before he got halfway the two minions grabbed his arms and held him back.

"Well I guess we know which way Harris swings now, guys!" Larry said as he pulled out the black wig with unnecessary flourish.

He'd hoped for a second that the usual macho man awkwardness around gays would've caused all three goons to back off and give him an opening to flee but sadly that was not the case. Either Larry didn't really believe what he was saying and was using the whole gay thing like calling him a loser or the three of them weren't as homo-phobic as he'd thought.

"Let's see what else is in here!" Larry said as he took another look into the plastic bag. "Nice sword, Harris! It really matches your dress!"

Naturally it was pissing him off to have them laugh at him like they were but at the same time he knew he wouldn't be able to kick their asses and get out of the bathroom. Despite the experience and added exercise he got from fighting vamps and demons alongside Buffy, he still wasn't good enough to take on three jocks at once. Oh, he'd get a few good shots in, that he could guarantee, but in the end the numbers would outdo his determination and conditioning.

"I still think something is missing, though," Larry said with mock thought on his face. "Fortunately for you, loser, I have just the right thing for your costume."

The caveman jock reached into a bag he'd been carrying when he'd entered the restroom and took out a bottle of white glue that had to be a thousand milliliters in size. Watching as Larry picked up the wig Buffy had selected for his costume, he knew instantly what the jock intended and decided he had to act. Straining as best he could against the minions, he tried to break free so he could grab the wig and cover it up but he failed. As a result he was helpless to do more than watch as half the bottle's contents of glue got spread across the length of the wig.

"Larry, you bastard!" he said, realizing that his costume could very well be in the process of being destroyed right before his eyes.

All he got for his words was a punch in the stomach by one of the minions that knocked the wind completely out of him, causing him to go limp. Dropped to the floor of the bathroom he was helpless to watch as Larry dropped the glue-splattered wig in front of him, laughing the entire time as he along with his minions left.

As soon as the strength returned to his limbs he picked up the wig and immediately began trying to wash out as much of the glue as he could. The glue hadn't hardened yet and maybe if he acted quickly enough he could get the majority of it out and still be able to salvage the wig for his outfit. Not that it was absolutely crucial but it would leave something of a hole in his whole 'wandering samurai' look, likely getting him into trouble with Buffy when she saw him. Sure, he'd tell her that he ran afoul of Larry and his minions but he knew that the Slayer would either blame him for not standing up for himself better or get ideas of pushing him out of the slayage if he was too weak to hold off common bullies.

Neither option was something he liked so, even as the minutes ticked away, he did the best he could but, when his watch showed 3:55pm, he knew he was out of time.

 _I hope this doesn't stand out too much,_ he thought as he lifted the wig out of the sink and held it up to take a good look at it.

What he found was an odd combo of pros and cons.

On the one side there were no visible signs of glue on a single strand of hair so at least neither Buffy nor Willow would find out about Larry's actions that way. However some part of the glue that the cro-mag had used had wound up changing the top half of the wig from black to snow white, with a few swirls here and there that made the black parts look like they'd been drawn on with ink. Now a multi-colored wig wasn't necessarily a bad thing since on Halloween you could have a wig that was all the colors of a Hawaiian shirt and it'd be fine. The bad part though was that, thanks to the glue, the wig now looked like it was in a perpetual wind tunnel since, once on his head, it'd be stuck completely horizontal. Putting it on and securing the clips that'd make it harder for it to be pulled off or blown off, he looked in the mirror and almost groaned at how it made him look. Even after he tucked the prop katana beneath the belt of the outfit his eyes still drifted up to the wig that was stuck extending horizontally from the back of his head.

"Great! Just PERFECT!" he growled as he realized that, despite his earnest attempts at washing out the glue, enough remained not only to affect the shape of the fake hair but also the color in parts.

He was about to run out and face the music with the others when the door to the bathroom opened again to reveal Jonathan and Andrew, both of whom were dressed up as monsters of some kind.

"Stupid store!" Jonathan growled as he looked at some kind of plastic container in his right hand. "I wanted purple eyes than looked like bug eyes, not golden eyes that look like they belong to a cat!"

"Not much you can do about it now, Jonathan," Andrew said with sympathy for his friend. "We need to take care of business here and then run out to the lounge or Snyder's going to drop detention on the both of us."

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Jonathan said before tossing the plastic container into the trash bin.

Hearing the entire discussion, an epiphany of sorts came over him and he darted over to the bin, retrieving the container his fellow student had tossed away. After taking a moment to be sure that nothing had gotten inside he popped the lid and found what he'd expected inside: Costume contact lenses and, just as Jonathan had stated, they were golden colored eyes that definitely looked like they'd be at home in the eye sockets of a cat. Imagining them covering his own brown eyes, he was forced to admit that they'd improve his costumed appearance nicely but they'd also give off the look of a demon. Considering he was on a Hellmouth and it was Halloween, did he really want to tempt fate?

Glancing down at his watch, which read 3:57pm, he decided he'd have to risk it so, following the instructions he managed to put both lenses in properly with only a little pain. With that done he ran out the door and navigated the hallways of the school towards the student lounge, hoping that he wouldn't be late.

Detention sucked, after all.

Detentions where Snyder chose to handle himself… he figured being chained to the ninth circle of hell would be preferable.

 _ **The Student Lounge, 3:59pm, Willow's POV**_

"Xander… hurry up!" she muttered as she kept a joint look out for both her best friend and for Snyder.

She prayed that the latter would actually prove to be the late one since it'd give her childhood friend extra minutes to get to the lounge so he wouldn't get detention. From her point of view detentions were bad news no matter how you sliced things. That was because it meant spending time trapped in a room with a teacher handpicked by Snyder, while on the other hand it wouldn't look good on the permanent record to have a lot of detentions listed. She knew that Xander didn't really care about such things but, ever since she'd formed the necessary resolve to give school her all, she'd also done what she could to make sure her friend put forth some effort as well.

It didn't always work but she'd never stop trying.

"Don't worry Willow," Buffy said from the seat next to her. "He's probably gonna come around the corner any second now."

Looking at her friend she nodded before once more taking in the outfit that the Slayer had chosen to wear. As part of the blonde's efforts to get them to go beyond the normal, the costumes the three of them were wearing were all of single theme: ancient Japanese. True, it had simply started as Xander dressing up as a wandering samurai but then the Slayer had obviously gotten the idea to give her a matching outfit in an effort to help her crush on her longtime friend along. From there Xander had gotten the idea that Buffy should also choose a similar outfit since perhaps something a little different might be good for her. With that avalanche of sentiments it was a done deal and, now that she looked at the outfit, she had on she thought perhaps it really was better than her ghost costume.

It looked like a really fancy Japanese lady's kimono made up of various shades of red and black on the outside but with a sort of pinkish whitish underclothing that she supposed was like a dress slip or maybe an undershirt. She didn't really have much time to look over the labels that had come with the costume or go online to do more research but all in all it looked pretty nice. The pattern on the kimono itself was very pretty looking to be a combination of leaves and flowers you wouldn't find outside of the 'land of the rising sun'. However there was one component of the outfit she couldn't quite make sense out of and that was a shin length skirt that was beneath the dress-slip thing. It was the same shade of red as most of the outer kimono but looked a lot like scale mail armor like she'd seen in some of Giles' books. The bits and pieces weren't made of metal, of course, just shiny plastic, but it still seemed like a rather odd addition to what she presumed was supposed to be a Japanese noblewoman's kimono. Nevertheless, with a black wig on her head done up in traditional Japanese style it was a definite improvement over the ghost costume she'd worn in the past.

Buffy's outfit was similar but she got the feeling that it'd been intended for someone a little more… developed. Someone like Cordelia or Miss Calendar would probably fill it out better but Buffy had done her best to make it work for her. It wasn't as formal looking as her outfit but rather it had a more relaxed feel to it with the way it seemed to be just barely held up by Buffy's shoulders. It also exposed more than hers since it left the upper arms and upper legs visible while in the front it only came together from the mid-chest down to the waist before flaring out again half a foot or so below the waistline. Fortunately some plastic forearm and shin guards helped cover up a bit more, with toe socks and sandals on the feet instead of the Slayer's usual footwear. Buffy had added an odd necklace she'd grabbed at the cash register of the costume place and then, in an unexpected moment, the clerk had offered to add some sort of Japanese banjo that'd been behind the counter. Naturally her Slayer friend had been against the idea initially since it'd be a bit of a bother to carry the thing around for two hours, but then the clerk had mentioned that one of the essential skills of an educated Japanese woman was music. The man had also gone on to say that the music played by an exceptional mistress of the instrument had been known to ensnare many a man even if they'd only been passing by. That'd been enough to convince her blonde friend to take it since images of wooing Angel with music were no doubt filling her head.

 _Well, at least we're definitely different from the rest of the Halloween crowd,_ she thought as she examined the other 'volunteers'.

Just about everyone else wore costumes that you'd expect for Halloween, from traditional vampires or Frankenstein monsters to superhero outfits as well as other fictional characters. Not one of them though was dressed up like she, Buffy and Xander were, so they'd stand out from the crowd sure enough. Fortunately for her, though, her costume covered up just about everything so, while people would still see her face, the rest of the outfit would cause most to pass right over her.

"There he is!" she exclaimed, pointing to Xander who had just come around the corner.

Looking at him she could see most of the costume pieces were there exactly the way they should be but when she got to his head she noticed some rather odd differences. First and most obvious was the fact that the long black haired wig that should've gone down to his waist was sticking out horizontally from the back of his head and had even partially changed to white. Still, she thought that the way that the black was mixed with the white was actually kinda pretty looking so, aside from the gravity defying nature of the wig, she didn't have any complaints. The other odd point when looked at in addition to the hair made her wonder if her best friend wasn't playing chicken with the Hellmouth and daring it to do something. His eyes had changed from their usual chocolate brown human eyes to golden cat eyes and, if she hadn't seen him for a long time, she'd have thought he'd gotten himself possessed or something. However, since it had been less than half an hour since she'd seen him she believed he'd somehow gotten costume contact lenses from someone. Putting it altogether it somehow changed Xander's costume from a wandering samurai to a wandering demon samurai and that sort of thing was dangerously like taunting Murphy AND the Hellmouth.

Still, she had to have the question burning in her mind answered.

"Xander! What happened?" she asked once he stood in front of them.

"Don't want to talk about it!" Xander muttered with a bit of an edge that let her know he wanted the topic dropped.

That could only mean that something happened to wound his manly pride and that it likely had something to do with the wig. Considering the sort of luck her best guy friend had, she'd bet a box of Twinkies that he bumped into Larry again and the jock did something to the wig. Mentally she sighed at the bad luck her friend tended to attract and wondered if he'd ever be cut a break or if he was doomed to forever have something rain on his parade.

"ALRIGHT, GATHER AROUND! GATHER AROUND, YOU REPROBATES!" came Snyder's oh so melodious voice from the other end of the lounge.

"Guess we better get going," Buffy said as she got up from her chair, tried to cover up more of herself with her outfit only to fail, and then began walking to where all the chaperones were gathering.

"Yep! We might've dodged the 'be late and get detention' bullet but if we're slow obeying mein furher, he might fire something else at us," Xander said, sounding like he had a few choice words for the high school principal.

She nodded in agreement as they walked over to where the chaperones had gathered.

"You've all been chosen to escort the brats from Sunnydale Elementary for the next two hours as they go around trick or treating for candy that'll probably make then ten times worse," Snyder said, showing his disdain for non-adults with every word. "In this box is a number. The number is connected to a group of five brats you'll be in charge of for the next two hours. Don't speak to them. We don't need your delinquent ways rubbing off on them. Let's get started."

With those words the box got passed around and one-by-one numbers were drawn from it before the cardboard container was passed to the next person. It took only about five minutes but by then Buffy was the last person to draw a number from the box and of course, once that was done, Snyder just had to put his two cents in.

"No need to speak to them, Summers. The last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece and I won't expel you." Snyder said as he left to bring the elementary students in.

"I wish I could expel YOU!" Buffy muttered angrily once she thought the principal was far enough away.

"What… was… THAT?" Snyder asked with a dangerous edge, proving that the Slayer should've waited a bit longer.

"I just said that I wanted to express my gratitude to you," Buffy replied quickly yet uncertainly. "You're such a role model for the student body."

 _Not a bad cover, Buffy, but I don't think he bought it,_ she thought before a cross look appeared on Snyder's face.

"Just give me a reason, Summers," Snyder stated with a heavily implied threat. "Just give me a reason."

As she watched the one person with the most authority in the school walked away, she did something she never thought she would.

She stuck out her tongue and used her hands to make an ugly face at the principal's back.

It needed work if the chuckles of her friends were any hint.

 _ **Buffy's POV, Later**_

 _Definitely should have checked with the guy at the store to see if he had this in a smaller size,_ she thought as she adjusted her costume one more time in order to keep everyone from seeing what type of bra and panty she preferred.

Still, she had to admit that her plan to have Xander and Willow be more than they thought they could be had worked out quite nicely. Xander, despite the demonic additions to his costume, looked like a cool samurai warrior and the changes only made him look more exotic. Willow, on the other hand, very much looked like a princess, given the extravagant nature of her kimono and the style the wig had been done up in. Of the two of them only the former made her worried, if only because her guy friend was tempting fate with his new look from her point of view. That was why she'd stick close to him, just in case, even though Giles had said that Halloween was supposed to be quiet night for ghosts and demons.

Seeing her group of five children, she had to frown a bit as she realized that the self-declared leader had a look in his beady eyes that told her he'd come up with another name to call her that was far from complimentary. The rest of the group was more or less okay with how they behaved but they were way too submissive since they generally agreed with anything the one brat said. Hopefully they'd all grow up to be better people because otherwise she only saw trouble and hardship in their future.

"Alright, kids we're about halfway done so let's turn left at the corner and start circling back to the school so you can be picked up by your folks," she said, trying her best to sound like an adult.

"Are we gonna see any of your friends, floozy?" the brat asked with a smug look on his face.

 _Definitely someone who'd benefit from a little extreme spanking therapy!_ she thought. "Maybe. Depends if they decide to take the same route back to the school as us."

This apparently wasn't what the brat had expected and so he was left without a way to continue his little name calling game, so he, along with his fellow elementary school students, were stuck being silent. Walking slowly behind them she was glad that they were about to start heading back to the high school because, the sooner she got rid of the children, the sooner she could go on her date with Angel. While not quite as dignified as the noblewoman's dress she'd seen in Giles' books, she was certain that her costume would make an impression on the man who held her heart.

 _Plus it might give him motivation enough to move things to second base,_ she thought with a smile at the possibility.

Not that she hadn't had fun with the little kisses and spending time with him, but now that she'd gotten used to it she was eagerly looking forward to the next phase in their relationship and the experiences that came with it. It was all about the newness of growing up and experiencing new things, after all, but unlike most teenagers she knew she didn't have the luxury of taking her time with everything. As the Slayer she knew that she had a countdown to deal with and that one day soon she'd go out to patrol or fight some demonic threat and never come back. Thanks to Xander she already beat the usual expiration date for a Slayer but she saw that as a lucky hiccup of fate rather than a sign that she had a full life ahead of her. Even with the support the others gave her, saving the world and protecting the Hellmouth ultimately came down to her living up to her responsibilities and being strong enough to thwart the demon of the week.

Sooner or later something would give out and she'd meet her end.

Knowing her luck, it'd be sooner.

Looking ahead she was about to ask the kids not to get too far ahead when something big pinged on her Slayer senses that froze her in her tracks. Whipping her head about she tried to find the source, tried to find a target, but no matter which direction she looked in she couldn't see anything. Then, without warning, she felt as though something solid had slammed into her but she only perceived this for a moment because a second later felt a burning sensation surge from deep within her. It was like someone was quickly raising the temperature of the blood that flowed in her veins, causing it to approach hot tub temperature with the clear intent of going further.

She wanted to fight against it.

She wanted her blood to cool.

But neither was a possibility because, even as her blood got hot, her mind was plunged deep into a fog of numbness far from her body.

The last thing she could perceive before the darkness took her was the feeling of another ascending to the place she once held.

 _ **Half a Minute Later, Same Place**_

"Mmmmmm… not the usual soreness I'm used to after a good night," she said as she rose up off the ground with sensuality and grace.

Once she was sure of her legs having the strength to hold her up she let her eyes take in the new world that existed around her since she knew instantly that she wasn't where she last remembered being. Her last memory was leaving the barn of a particularly handsome farmer after having her way with him and getting a decent meal out of the experience. She made sure to leave enough energy and blood within him so that he'd survive the experience because, unlike some members of her race, she knew better than to leave a body trail for a dedicated youkai hunter to follow. The handsome man might spend a few days under the weather but there were neighbors close enough to his farm that he could find help from them.

So long as no one made too big of a deal about it, no one would even suspect that there was something unnatural about the man's condition.

It had been just as she reached the dirt road that'd take her away from the barn that she'd blacked out, only to awaken in this strange place that was so unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Loosening her kimono a little as it'd been a little too tight on her, she tried to make sense of the new environment but it was a mass of contradictions. On the one side of things she could feel a sea of jyaki flowing all around her and her senses told her that it encompassed an area consistent with a decent sized town. On the other side this was obviously a human town rather a place solely inhabited by 'them', so she couldn't understand why she didn't sense any wards on the homes that were arrayed on either side of the street she stood on, nor any ofuda on the doors. That didn't make sense since any human living near a place they knew to be inhabited by her people or by 'them' took all the necessary precautions. Some villages and towns even had a reasonably competent priest living with them just in case an attack of surprising strength took place.

Given that she could see various breeds running this way and that all around her, the humans would have to be blind and deaf not to realize the dangers that surrounded them.

"Odd, isn't it?" asked a slightly hissing voice from behind her.

Turning around, she saw something that at first look like a rich princess that she'd seen occasionally during her travels but it was when she heard the scrape of something against the stone street that she looked down to see the truth. Poking out of the bottom of the expensive kimono was something that could only be a serpent's tail, red scales covering the top and sides while golden scales graced the bottom. If she were a man she'd be worried. Even being a woman she would have to be careful with how she acted or what words she spoke.

"Indeed. I take it that you were someplace else a few moments ago?" she asked politely, a neutral look on her face.

"Yes, but fortunately I was finished with what I wished to do before I found myself here," the kiyohime replied with a smile that did not bode well for the people she'd just been with.

"It was the same with me. It would have been quite inconvenient to have my meal interrupted," she said before looking about the area. "Whatever the case, I plan on trying to find out how we were brought here and if there is a chance we could go back soon."

"You do not find this strange new ningen land interesting?" the Kiyohime asked with mild interest.

"I will admit that the contradictions here pique my interest but I would not wish to make this place my new home," she replied as another creature ran past them. "Far too many of 'them' here for my liking."

"Indeed. I noticed their presence as well," Kiyohime said with equal distaste for the foul creatures that all her people despised as filth. "Perhaps it would be best to return to our native land rather than remain here. Therefore I shall accompany you. We will find the truth faster together than we would apart."

"Sounds like fun!" she said with an adventurous smile on her face.

With those words the two of them began to use their respective senses to seek out anything out of the ordinary in this vermin infested town. True, as a Hinoenma she'd be much better at tracking down suitable men or others of her kind, but all youkai possessed senses far more impressive than any human.

She'd manage just fine when it came to contributing something to the search.

 _ **A Nearby Rooftop**_

 _Well, isn't this fun,_ he thought as he watched the two youkai move off.

Getting to his feet, he had to admit that, ever since he came to a few minutes ago, he had been treated to a set of circumstances that had caught his interest firmly in their grasp. The first thing he'd noticed upon opening his eyes was the obvious fact that he was no longer in his old, shrunken form but rather he was once again the body he'd had upon leaving Kyoto after his great victory at Osaka Castle. It had been a pleasant treat to be able to move about without feeling the annoyances of old age and he'd been comforted to find Nenekirimaru tucked beneath the belt of his kimono. It was different than he remembered it because for one thing, after unsheathing it once, he could see that unlike what his memories told him, this blade was in perfect condition, not broken like it should have been after the fight with Seimei.

It was also a closer match for how it'd been when he'd first taken possession of it from his wife, meaning likely that it was only as strong as it'd been then. It had taken quite a few thousand youkai deaths to cause it to grow to a proper katana length and by the time it had his body had shrunk to such a size that he couldn't wield it properly. That was why he'd given it to his son and then from him to his grandson, both of who had used the blade well. Therefore to have it in his hands once more hit him with a bout of nostalgia but he couldn't help but feel that something was missing.

Looking down at his body, he could see that most of his clothes were there except for his red haori and the pelt of the three tailed wolf Gyuki had killed for him. It was at its base a trivial thing but, considering he'd been gifted with his body in its prime and Nenekirimaru was in his hands, then it made sense for him to complete the image. Looking about the area within range of his sight, he soon spotted a piece of clothing hanging on a rope that went from the house to a tree that looked promising. A single jump and a quick hop and he was close enough to it to appraise it as a worthy substitute for the real thing. It looked to be cut the same way as his old red haori but the fabric reminded him more of silk rather than the rougher textured material he remembered. Pulling it off the clothesline, he threw it around his shoulders just as he had done countless times before and, after it'd settled, he looked to see how well it fit.

 _Yes, I believe this will do nicely,_ he thought with a smile at how it looked on him. _What to do now, I wonder?_

He supposed that he could join the Kiyohime and the Hinoenma in their search for a way to get back to their respective homes but…. that would be a waste of the wonderful opportunity he'd been given! He was back in his prime and, unless he was very much mistaken, in another country, if not another world, so this was a chance for him to live it up while he was here. Here he had no obligations to the clan or his family and there would be no way for them to find out what he did while he was there, so there'd be no consequences once he returned home.

With that in mind he leapt onto the rooftops, casting his gaze wide for anything that might catch his interest, whether it be a decent fight, a place to get good food or a particularly beautiful woman. From what he was able to tell by the letters and the words he figured that he was in America, making things that much more interesting for him. While most products made in America made their way to Japan sooner or later, some never made it whether it was due to cultural reasons or grudges held by one side or the other. He'd enjoy sampling what he couldn't enjoy in Japan to the fullest.

"AAAHHHH!"

Looking towards the scream, he couldn't help but smile at the sight his eyes took in because it looked like he was twice blessed in this instance. On the one hand he spied a beautiful young woman clad in cloth that clung to her form like a second skin and definitely was as fit as any woman he'd ever taken to his bed.

That fulfilled one of his sources of amusement.

Chasing after the young woman was some sort of hairy beast that sort of reminded him of an ape except it ran on two legs and was definitely bigger than anything short of a youkai ape. He couldn't sense any fear coming from it but that didn't necessarily mean anything since there were some youkai who didn't bother exerting that much effort if the prey was substandard.

He'd have to see how the ape youkai fought but this could very well be enough to satisfy another source of amusement for him.

Whether or not the young woman would be grateful enough to treat him to a meal at an American restaurant and make it three for three, he'd take those odds.

Thus with a burst of speed and some well-placed jumps he landed between the pursued and the pursuer, causing both to come to a halt.

"I don't think the lady is interested, fur ball," he said casually as he looked at the youkai without fear. "Why don't you do the right thing and look elsewhere? I'm sure there must be one of your own kind somewhere around here."

The only thing the youkai did was growl threateningly, looking as though it would attack at any moment so that it could get at its prey. An eyebrow of puzzlement was his response as he began to wonder if this creature really was a youkai or just some wild beast rampaging through this small town. He decided he'd talk to the thing one more time and, if that failed, he'd stop wasting time and simply end the encounter in one move.

"Your fear will have to be a great deal stronger if you expect to get a reaction out of me," he said, doing his best to convey his complete lack of fear or concern. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

It was at that point that the creature, definitely not a youkai, attacked, having lost what remained of its patience but this did not bother him. If it was not a youkai but rather some mindless beast driven by instinct alone, its moves would be direct and fairly simple. Given the power and skill of the foes he'd bested in the past, he likely wouldn't even have to get serious with the beast. With that in mind he casually stepped to the side to evade its first swipe before doing so again as the ape thing repeated its move with the other arm. Then, as he'd expected, the stupid thing had tried to hit him with both but he'd easily stepped back so that it hit the street in front of him instead.

"Well, I guess if you're so set on it, then I guess it's only fair to show you what you're up against," he said before he brought forth his fear. "Can you handle this?"

Directing his fear towards the ape beast, he looked right into its eyes and treated it like he did all the children or idiots who wouldn't listen to reason. The second his fear made contact the ape thing froze in place, a light tremble through its body letting him know that it was indeed afraid of him now. Grabbing the hilt of Nenekirimaru, he pulled the blade from the sheath before taking on a light defensive stance just in case the beast had a surprise up its furry sleeve. Sadly the beast proved to have at least half a working mind for, as soon as it got a good look at the blade being pointed at it, the creature turned around and ran away, no doubt in search for easier prey.

"Well, that thing was more of a disappointment than I'd thought it'd be," he said as he pulled back his fear and sheathed his blade. "Perhaps you'll do a better at making this a night to remember, fair lady."

Turning to gaze upon the lady that had caught his attention, he found her looking at him with quite the surprised look on her face but no real fear, or no fear of him at least. He was just about to say something when a look of recognition appeared on her face and surprise was replaced by annoyance mixed with contempt.

"What the hell is going on, Harris!?" she exclaimed in anger as well as frustration. "One second I'm on my way to a party, the next I'm being chased by Jojo the dog-faced boy! Party Town's never going to give me back my deposit on this."

"Hmmm? I am afraid you have mistaken me for someone else," he said, sounding more curious about her words then annoyed. "My name is not Harris. Perhaps if you prove more interesting I'll let you know my name. Interested?"

"As if! You can drop the lady's man routine, Xander, 'cause I'm not buying it!" she said with a bit of fire. "What sort of craziness is going on NOW?! Have you talked with Giles yet?"

"I'm afraid I don't know anything more about what's going on in this town than you do, beautiful one," he replied, intrigued even further by what had been said to him. "As for this 'Giles' person, I'm afraid I can't seem to recall where to find him. Do you?"

"At this time of night he's probably at the school library," she replied, turning contemplative for a moment before her inner fire returned, "but you know that, don't you!? What's with this dumb act, dweeb?!"

"I suppose you could say that whatever 'craziness' is going on tonight has left my mind less than clear and that would be why I might be acting a little 'strange' from your point of view," he replied, providing her with a plausible reason why he didn't remember the things she said he should. "Would you lead me to this Giles person?"

"What do I look like!? A tour guide?!" she asked, sounding insulted by the request.

"Well, I could leave to find this Giles by myself but that would leave you alone," he said with a slightly smug smile on his face. "No way of knowing if that ape thing will come back… or maybe something worse coming along…"

"You wouldn't!" she exclaimed as the possible implications hit her.

"Wouldn't I? As I told you before, my mind isn't as clear as it should be and I do not recall ever having met you before If I don't know you, why would I care what happened to you? But if you agreed to guide me to this Giles person then I'd have a reason to protect you now, wouldn't I?"

He could see the indecision on her face, the weighing of the options, but the look of annoyed resignation was enough to tell him what her choice was. "FINE!" she growled out before storming off down the street. "But you SO owe me!"

"Then I look forward to the chance to repay your kindness," he said, following her, not fearing what the debt would be.

Mostly because he suspected that he'd be long gone by the time she came to collect on her debt and that'd leave it squarely in the lap of whoever this 'Harris' person was that he'd been mistaken for.

It was, after all, his specialty to get what he wanted only to avoid paying the bill.

 _ **Sunnydale High School Library, Later, Giles' POV**_

 _While I am glad that Halloween night is lacking in the usual horrors found on the Hellmouth, I fear that it's only been replaced by the terror children intoxicated with sugar can produce,_ he thought as another scream of fear reached him within the building.

It was a rather bitter blessing then that the last place children and teenagers wanted to be on such a night was the very place they should value for the sake of their future: the school. It'd keep them from getting too close and disrupting his work but he really believed that they should be more respectful of a place of education. Then again, considering what American's called an education, perhaps subconsciously the youth of this country knew what utter garbage they were being given in school and that was why they didn't take it seriously. Still, that was probably overly optimistic on his part. It was far more likely that they simply cared more about 'dating' and 'having fun' then they did about preparing for their own future. At least he had less to worry about where Willow was concerned than his other charges. The redhead was a natural learner and soaked up information like a sponge but there was the danger that she might mistake knowledge for wisdom.

He would have to do something about that before it became a problem.

He was right in the middle of putting away some updated catalogue cards when the doors to the library opened, admitting two people, one of whom he instantly recognized while the other only ringed a faint bell of familiarity in his mind.

"Giles, you gotta fix this!" Cordelia said, rushing right up to him. "The entire town's gone nuts and Xander thinks he's some kinda freaky ladies' man!"

"Cordelia? What are you going on about?" he asked, trying to make sense of what she said already.

"Are you DEAF!?" she asked in disbelief. "I said the town's gone nuts. There are superheroes flying about, little kid demons trying to kill people and Xander trying to act like a cool samurai! What more do you need to know?!"

Obviously the young woman was quite upset by her experiences outside so he would have to choose his next two or three questions carefully or else she might simply storm off. Taking a moment to consider what she already said, there was apparently some phenomena that affected the entire town causing fictional beings to appear along with demons. This was concerning however, given that he had not heard anything in the preceding weeks about potent spell ingredients coming into Sunnydale, and they WOULD have to be potent in order to affect such drastic transformations, however the high school student's statement was accurate the changes varied from person to person with some being unrecognizable while others were easily identifiable.

Taking a look at the other guest to the library, who he presumed was an affected individual, he tried to determine which of the two possibilities the person represented. However, when he gazed upon the young man's face, he was startled that he hadn't recognized the person the moment he'd entered the library.

"Xander? Is that you?" he asked unable to contain his surprise.

"While I'm beginning to think that the body is Xander's, I am not him," the young man's body replied with a smile that definitely wasn't Xander's usual one.

"Then with whom may I ask am I speaking to?" he asked, hoping that politeness would count for something with the spirit or personality in control of the boy's body.

"I suppose an introduction is in order and… Cordelia, was it… did bring me to you as I'd requested, so it'd only be fair," the personality/spirit replied with a confident smile. "I am the supreme commander of the night parade of a hundred demons, Lord of Pandemonium, Nurarihyon."

While the titles provided did give him some cause for concern, he was familiar with the name but had to wonder how such an unimpressive youkai could ever command such a horde. According to his recollection, the Nurarihyon breed of youkai appeared in the form of an elderly man, wearing the clothes of a Buddhist monk, possessing a knack for eluding the grasp of others. This was attributed to the ability to alter the perceptions of others so that it could go where it would, often to get a free meal from its unsuspecting victims. All in all it was considered to be little more than a nuisance, a trickster, rather than the leader of a group of dangerous demons or something that deserved the title 'Lord of Pandemonium'. Nevertheless, he could see just by looking at Xander that the entity was no stranger to battle and indeed had earned the right to be respected in battle. It was all there in the body language, in the little tells those with the experience could spot, and that made him refrain from saying or doing anything disrespectful.

"Xander went as a DEMON!" Cordelia exclaimed in shock and anger. "On the HELLMOUTH! It's official: the dweeb is braindead!"

"While I know that my kind have earned a somewhat fearful reputation amongst humans, I hardly think we deserve such scorn," Nurariyhon said with light defensiveness in his words. "Humans have committed atrocities every bit as bad as any of my people have, sometimes worse, but like some human leaders I've done what I can to restrain some of the more radical elements."

"Indeed it is all too easy for most people to classify all demons as bloodthirsty threats to humanity," he said offhand as he processed this new information. "The truth of the matter is that there are species of demons that are neutral and some that are even beneficial to humans. They're in the minority, however, and are often slain by those hostile to the human race."

"Is that so? Then we certainly aren't in my world," Nurarihyon said thoughtfully as he scratched his chin. "While I can hardly say that there is peace and understanding between demons of all species the world over, things are not as bad as you describe, Giles-san."

"Indeed," he said as his mind continued to debate possibilities.

"Well, this has been interesting and all but how about we get back to the problem of putting an end to this mess?" Cordelia said somewhat sarcastically as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Looking at the cheerleader, a thought occurred to him that he had not considered.

"Cordelia, where did you get your costume?" he asked as he followed that train of thought. "Obviously you were not changed into your costume so there must be something different about it that sets it apart from the costumes the others were wearing."

"HELLO! I got my outfit from the only place in town with quality stuff! Party Town!" Cordelia said as though the answer should be obvious. "Knowing Summers and the rest, they probably went someplace cheap or a store that just opened."

"Would you happen to know of such a store or at least where it might be located?" he asked, feeling that they were on the right track.

"Ummm… let me think… I know it's downtown…" Cordelia replied, actually thinking seriously for a moment. "Eric's… Errol's… no… Ethan's! YES! Its name was Ethan's costume shop! I remember because Harmony said she was going to check it out after some loser at Party Town ruined her costume!"

"Ethan…" he muttered as the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.

Ethan BLOODY Rayne!

Now the entire situation with the costumes and the sounds coming from outside made sense since it'd be just the sort of prank the prat would pull.

"I believe I know who is behind tonight's… commotion," he stated in a chilly tone. "I will go to the costume shop and end the spell. I suggest, Cordelia, that you remain here until I end the spell since it should be safer in here then out there on the streets. As for you, Nurarihyon… while I would prefer if you remained here as well, I will understand if you choose not to. I cannot say when I will be able to end the spell and it could prove rather fatal for Xander if you were to leave him in the middle of a battle."

"Understandable. Would there happen to be any tea here?" Nurarihyon asked, looking about the library. "If I'm going to be staying here I might as well have a drink."

"There should be a fresh pot in my office. Please help yourself," he replied, pleasantly surprised at the request.

"Thank you," Nurarihyon said before walking into the office.

With that handled he immediately left the library before setting course for the parking lot where his car was parked. If he wanted to get to the store as quickly as possible to end the spell, going by automobile was the only way.

 _I pray that Buffy and Willow will be able to stay out of trouble until I can end the spell,_ he thought as the doors leading to the outside. _Without control of her body Buffy is likely vulnerable and Willow probably won't be much better off._

He knew it was too much to hope for that they'd been changed into something powerful enough to keep her safe.

 _ **The Streets of Sunnydale, Willow "The Kiyohime" Rosenberg's POV**_

"Any luck, Hinoenma?" she asked from her coiled position near the front door of one of the ningen homes where she was sampling some local candy.

"Given that we're working together, Kiyohime, we should at least know each other's name," The Hinoenma replied, pausing from its survey of their current surroundings. "You may call me Katsumi of the South."

 _An interesting choice considering the fact that names have power amongst our kind,_ she thought as she evaluated her current companion. _Still, given that I have never heard of her, it is unlikely that she knows of me either. Besides, I can handle a single hinoenma._

"I am Lady Minori of Yamana," she said in the same tone she had been taught to by her honored parents, back when she'd been human.

"Well, Minori-chan, I don't think we're going to find anything more around here," Katsumi said with a friendly smile with just a bit of humor. "Maybe if we move closer to this town's marketplace we'll find what we're after."

 _A marketplace? It might be interesting to see what can be found there,_ she thought with piqued interest. _This candy is certainly tasty even though it's not quite as filling as fresh meat._

"Lead the way then, Katsumi," she said with a bow she'd practiced many times when she'd been human.

With the decision made her temporary companion used her youkai strength to leap to the top of a nearby wooden pole that had strange black ropes connecting it to numerous other poles that lined either side of the street. Clearly wanting to determine which way to go from the highest ground in the area, it didn't take the Hinoenma long to determine a direction.

"It was a little hard to find since it doesn't look anything like the marketplaces I remember, but it's that way," Katsumi said, pointing to the east of where they were. "Let's go."

As they travelled to the east she had to wonder a bit at her present circumstances and where she should go. It had not been more than a month since she'd succeeded in gaining her revenge on the man who'd spurned her advances but things had not turned out like she'd expect. At the moment she regained her mind, the moment her rage-filled need for vengeance had been satisfied, she had expected to either be returned to her human form or perish, allowing her soul to go on to the underworld. Day after day she'd waited for her body to return to normal or for it to turn to ash, releasing her soul to go where it belonged. It had only been a little while before she had woken up that she'd come to the realization that there would be no returning to her human form, nor any release until either old age or injury brought death to her door.

With this truth discovered, she found herself at a loss for what to do and where to go.

She could not live amongst humans anymore, for even if she was careful they would learn her true nature and cast her out without fail.

Assuming they didn't decide to slay her, that was.

Going to live with youkai was the more promising option as she was one of them now but, if the stories she'd been told as a child were true, only commoners amongst them would welcome her. Among the youkai there were generally two types: those who began as youkai and those who became youkai. The first ever looked down upon the second as lesser beings since their origin sprang from the ningen that they considered little more than animals. While it was not impossible for those that began as something else to rise to a position of importance, there was forever an invisible barrier that would keep them from gaining a true position of powerful importance. Could she, someone who'd been used to living the life of a feudal princess, be satisfied with a lesser lifestyle? Could life be worth living without the comforts she was used to?

It was a fact that she was better educated that the commoners, as she was expected given her status in Japanese society to be learned in many things. Commoners, on the other hand, only knew things that pertained to survival or their occupation, with few if any knowing how to read and write. Indeed, it was unlikely that a commoner could ever truly relate to someone of status and it was probably just as unlikely that she would be able to relate to them either.

Perhaps over time that would change but it would not be an easy transition.

Nevertheless it would be better than choosing to remain.

While she had been initially intrigued by the idea of staying in this unknown world, the presence of 'them' quickly soured her to the idea. No, she wasn't referring to humans like some might think but rather those creatures that humans ignorantly chose to lump youkai in with despite evidence to the contrary. She was referring to the foul creatures that were neither human nor youkai, creatures that were not of this world yet treated it as though it belonged to them. Rather than give them their own unique classification humans merely called them demons, called youkai demons, just like they often did anything they couldn't classify as either human or animal.

There was a difference, though.

Youkai were native to this world, born of this world, and therefore had as much right to live there as the humans or animals. The foul creatures wrongfully labeled demons were more parasites than anything else, living off other living things while slowly bringing the world ever closer to death through their actions. The monsters either sought the destruction of every living thing other than their kind or desired to use the peoples of the world to satisfy their own base desires. In either case it was inevitable that such conduct would lead to the planet's ruin forcing the filth to travel to another world, another dimension, in order to continue with their wasteful ways.

What other term than parasite could fit them so perfectly?

For her to live in a land where she was surrounded by such creatures and humans was completely unacceptable.

Therefore aiding the Hinoenma Katsumi in her efforts to find a way for them to return them home was the smart thing to do.

However it was as they turned another corner that an obstacle appeared that was as inconvenient as it was likable. Standing arrayed across the entire street were a collection of creatures that were definitely members of the filth that were wrongfully considered to be the same as youkai. The leader of the group, a vampire from the looks of it, had obviously been waiting for them and seemed quite pleased that he'd succeeded in intercepting them.

"Well, isn't this neat!" the vampire with the spiked white hair. "Of all the things I thought the Slayer would dress up as for Halloween, I never thought it'd be a Jap whore. Guess that must make you her mousy friend then, huh?"

 _This vampire thought Katsumi was some sort of demon slayer?!_ she thought with disbelief though she didn't let it show on her face. _Either the creature is blind and cannot see the obvious youkai features Katsumi has or he's never seen a real demon Slayer before._

"Guess that means I can get some snakeskin boots after I have my fun with you, Slayer," she vampire said with a confident smirk on his face. "A lot of FUN!"

"Well, you're right about one thing, filth…" Katsumi said as she raised her open right hand. "This is going to be a LOT of FUN!"

She smiled when she saw the nails of the Hinoenma suddenly shoot out a full twelve inches while clearly becoming sharper than the nails of any human or animal. With a single look between them she agreed to fight alongside Katsumi to kill the filth before them so that they could proceed on their way.

It'd be short but the fight would definitely be amusing.


	2. The cause is gone but the stink remains

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my work. Therefore it would be greatly appreciated if no legal action was taken against me. I can assure you that even if you took everything it wouldn't cover even a fifth of your legal fees.

 _ **November 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **, 1997**_

 _ **Sunnydale High School, Afternoon**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _I hate Halloween!_ he thought as he made his way to the library. _I never thought I'd say it but after looking in the mirror this morning I can safely say I'm swearing off Halloween. It's not like I can't get candy anytime I want so long as I have the money._

Indeed, for him Halloween had always been about getting as much sugary goodness as possible, making dressing up in a costume just the icing on the cake. When he entered high school he'd pretty much decided to pass the torch to the younger kids while he stayed in to watch horror movies with bags of candy in arm's reach. While he had been unhappy to be roped into chaperoning the elementary kids, he'd decided to focus on the silver lining and for one night enjoying being in costume again. He'd had a bit of trouble at first getting the kids to behave thanks to Larry's 'alterations' but once he got past that he was able to teach them the finer points of trick or treating. After that they'd been attentive students, listening to the master of scamming the most candy out of the most people while completely avoiding the houses known for only giving out… yech… healthy things. It'd all been going so well but then out of nowhere he'd found himself shoved into the backseat of his own body while someone else took the wheel.

He'd fought it at first, had done everything he could to take back his body, but once that proved useless and he got to know the new personality better he'd sat back and enjoyed the ride. Nurarihyon wasn't a bad demon, not really, so he'd just watched the drama unfold. He'd been lucky that the supreme commander had decided to heed G-man's request to stay in the library rather than go out to find some fun. The Lord of Pandemonium's idea of fun was usually hunting down other demons, getting free food however he could or finding a woman who caught his interest and going Casanova on her. All three had the distinct possibility of getting him hurt once the spell was terminated, either through irate restaurant owners, angry demons or a woman who'd think he was just toying with her feelings. Or her husband or boyfriend who found out who he was.

Sadly his own personal brand of luck wouldn't let him escape from trouble completely because for the entire time the spell was active Nurarihyon did his level best to seduce Cordy into oblivion. It'd been entertaining to watch as the youkai made the head cheerleader blush and get flustered with every other sentence that came out of his mouth. The guy was easily in the same league as any romance novel character and way above the local jocks when it came to saying the right things into a teenage girl's panties. Of course the spell HAD to end right before Nurarihyon would've succeeded in landing a kiss on Cordelia's lips, leaving him holding the proverbial bag. If he'd managed to keep her fooled for another few seconds he'd have had something to gloat about for weeks but the momentary disorientation that came with the spell ending had caused him to groan. This had ruined the mood and let Queen C know that 'the dweeb' had returned, causing the old status quo to return, which meant Cordy would be all snippy towards him for at least a week.

He'd gone straight home after that, tossing the costume into the bag from the store once he'd reached his room, but when he'd been about to put Nenekirimaru in as well when he noticed something. The sheath and the hilt didn't feel like plastic as he'd expected, not to mention it was decidedly heavier than he'd remembered it being in the bathroom when he'd put the costume on. Curious, he'd grabbed the hilt and pulled the blade free of its sheath, revealing not a plastic blade but one of metal that looked sharp enough to cut through anything. Of course like an idiot he'd tested the sharpness of the blade only to cut himself and letting a bit of blood flow out before going to the bathroom for a Band-Aid. It'd been a bit of a surprise but a welcome one since he could make the katana his own personal weapon once Giles had cleared it as being safe.

He was given one more thing to speak with a Watcher about when he'd looked himself in the eye in the bathroom mirror after splashing himself in the face with cold water.

 _GOD I hope this isn't permanent!_ he thought as he pushed open the doors to the library.

Not surprisingly when he looked to see who was there he found the entire Scooby gang assembled around the central table. None of them looked the worse for wear but he could tell that this was more than an after action report of last night from the looks on their faces.

"Good times last night, eh?" he asked rhetorically with his usual lopsided smile.

At least he thought it was the usual but, given the looks that were being sent his way, he was beginning to think something about it might be off.

Brushing it off as nothing he took his usual seat and put the sheathed Nenekirimaru on the table before waiting for G-man to start things off like he usually did.

"T-things were quite different this Halloween then they usually are, Xander," Giles replied, completely missing the fact that the question was rhetorical. "As such I shall explain what occurred then I will ask each of you to summarize your experiences as well as any side-effects you may be experiencing.

"Around five in the evening last night a chaos mage by the name of Ethan Rayne cast a spell that turned everyone who bought an item from his costume store into whomever or whatever they masqueraded as. The focal point of the spell was a clay bust of the Roman god Janus that represents divination of self, light and dark, good and evil. At its core he is a god of transition and change," G-man explained much like a teacher giving a lecture. "I… knew Ethan during my youth. He was always a tricky little bastard. Loved causing chaos and confusion purely for entertainment. It was Cordelia who provided the name of the store, allowing me to go to the source of the problem and put an end to it. Given that you all seem to be unharmed, I dare say I successfully made it in time."

"Depends on your definition of 'unharmed'," he said before removing the sunglasses he'd worn to school in order to keep from drawing attention to himself.

He knew the second the gang spotted his eyes and he had to admit that it'd been something of a shock for him to the first time he'd laid eyes on them. It wasn't as bad as the contact lenses he'd put on last night but he wouldn't call the eyes he had now human either. The pupil was elongated vertically, almost going from the top of the iris to the bottom but not quite. The iris was a bright gold but fortunately not the same color as a vamp's eyes when the bloodsuckers vamped out otherwise he figured it'd be safe to say Buffy would've staked him the second he took his sunglasses off.

Giving them a minute to get used to the eyes, he decided to get the other 'side-effect' out of the way immediately rather than spring it on them later.

Grabbing the sword by its hilt he pulled the blade out before putting the weapon next to its sheath so that everyone could see it.

"Before you ask the blade is as real and as deadly as it looks," he said, holding up the finger that had been cut. "I've got the cut to prove it. I was a bit surprised since, unless I'm messed up in the head, Nenekirimaru is only supposed to cut youkai and leave humans unharmed. Well, mostly unharmed. They might feel a little pain but no physical damage."

"You retained memories from your costume personality?" Giles asked with surprise.

"It's all muddled together like a five flavored ice cream smoothie but I can remember bits and pieces of Nurarihyon's life," he replied, taking a moment to try and find a specific memory. "He wasn't a saint but he wasn't an enemy of humans either. He just thought that youkai matters should be handled by youkai and human matters should be handled by humans. Jurisdiction stuff."

"That sounds much like what I've read about some of the leaders of neutral demon species," Giles said, sounding encouraged by what he'd been told. "They are neither humanity's allies nor their enemies."

"So you were a king or a prince last night?" Willow asked, being suspiciously careful not to open her mouth too wide.

"Not really. He was the head of the Nura clan. A youkai yakuza boss," he replied, deciding to pop his friend's storybook ideas right away.

No one knew quite what to say about that so Buffy sat up straighter, like she'd take over the conversation from here.

"I'd dressed up the same as Willow and Xander while paying for half their costumes," Buffy said with her casual voice at odds with her uncomfortable body language. "I'd dressed up as this travelling Japanese musician woman but wound up turning into something completely different: a Hinoenma youkai."

"Dear lord!" Giles exclaimed, looking like he was only just able to keep from jumping out of his seat.

"What's a Hinoenma?" he asked, feeling like he should know the name.

"A Hinoenema is a Japanese succubus spirit that draws energy or blood from its male victims in order to survive," Giles replied, taking his glasses off to clean them. "It can take on the form of a beautiful woman in order to draw in its prey but, when the time to feed arrives, it reveals its true form the most prominent feature of which would be eyes. Black sclera with golden irises."

"So it's basically a Japanese sex vampire?" he asked, shocked and almost wishing that Nurarihyon had followed Buffy the previous night.

"Essentially, yes. However they are more grayish than pure good or pure evil," Giles clarified as he put his glasses back on. "They feed off of the energy or blood of men for survival's sake. True, some infuse the act with their own personal maliciousness but there exist some that go to great lengths in order to leave the man alive. Those Hinoenma take only as much as they can without endangering the man's life and then move on."

This was something of a comfort to everyone, including Buffy, since none of them wanted to consider a sex vampire named Buffy Summers.

Well, he might have considered it for a moment because his libido produced a pretty enticing image, but the vampire part helped him get rid of the fantasy quickly.

"It wasn't a… bad experience," Buffy said, blushing a little at her memories, "and on the plus side Spike was turned into so much ashes. He tried to attack me and Willow with a bunch of his minions but obviously he didn't know what he was dealing with."

"Deadboy Lite is dust? Last night was better than I thought!" he said with a smile at the thought of Spike being dusted.

Too bad Buffy hadn't run into Angel last night and dusted him too. If that'd happened he'd be dancing a little jig at the moment.

"Did you dust him?" he asked, interested in hearing more of the details.

"Nope. That honor belongs to Willow, or the youkai she turned into," Buffy replied, pointing to the uneasy redhead.

"And that was what, precisely?" Giles asked with honest curiosity in his voice.

"A Kyohime named Minori," Willow said just loud enough to not be called whispering.

"My word!" Giles said, once again pulling the G-Man maneuver. "I really should have… inquired more thoroughly with Ethan before shattering the clay bust."

"What's a Kyohime?" he asked, getting the same feeling as before.

"Basically it's a princess who falls in love with a handsome monk but, just when things start getting hot and heavy, the monk chooses his job over her. She flies into a jealous rage, chases after him and in the process turns into this half snake half woman youkai," Buffy replied, surprising many with her response. "She hunts him down and even though people hide him inside a big bell she uses her flame breath to melt the bell with the monk inside."

When she finished there was silence; a silence based on disbelief, with everyone staring at her like they were questioning if they were really looking at Buffy.

"WHAT!? The youkai I turned into knew a bit about other youkai and knew what type Willow had turned into," Buffy said defensively with a bit of anger.

"Yes, well… aside from Xander's eyes and the sword, did either of you suffer any lingering side-effects?" Giles asked, eager to move things along before an argument broke out.

"Other than a literal bad taste in my mouth from something, not really," Buffy replied, letting the slight to her intelligence slide.

"Um… does this count?" Willow asked before opening her mouth wide to reveal her teeth.

In particular she revealed that both of her canine teeth looked less like they came from a dog and more like they came from a snake. They weren't completely shaped like snake fangs like he'd seen in biology class or on TV but it didn't take close examination to recognize that the teeth were no longer the shape they should be. He now understood why she'd earlier done what she could to keep from opening her mouth too much because, if she had, they'd have seen the fangs before she was ready.

"It would seem that you and Xander are the most seriously affected by Ethan's spell," Giles said, partially sounding distracted by thought. "Finding a way to undo the changes in order to return you to normal will take time. Chaos magic by its very nature is unpredictable and so is the process of undoing its effects. I will need to very carefully research the proper counter spell."

"How long?" he asked, not wanting to have the sunglassed look for longer than he had to.

"As I said chaos magic is difficult to undo," Giles said with measured words. "Give me two weeks. In two weeks I will know more and be able to give you a more definite estimate of when the changes can be undone."

Not the answer was hoping for but the Watcher was the expert on demons and magic, so if he said he needed time then the rest of them had no choice but to wait. He could manage long enough since sunglasses in California weren't all that uncommon but Willow might have a bit of trouble keeping her new dental features a secret. After all his best bud liked to babble and talk, whether it was in class or with her friends, so the odds that she'd be able to keep people from seeing her teeth for two weeks was iffy.

"No problem then," he said as an idea came to him. "We can just tell people that some prankster flashed a bright light in my eyes forcing me to wear these glasses for a while and Willow can say that the fake Halloween teeth she put in got stuck and she needs to see a dentist or something. Since I doubt anyone in the school has a PhD to their name aside from you, G-man, they won't question the excuses. Well, Snyder might but that's just him being petty. Worse comes to worse I'm sure Wills can whip up some fake doctor notes to back us up."

This seemed to up Willow's spirits a bit and he just knew that she was already figuring out ways of hacking into the hospital computers to have the right paperwork put in their respective files. While he still hoped that she'd be careful he had confidence in her computer skills and with a little luck the repression that kept people from seeing that they lived in demon-ville would keep the changes from being discovered.

He just hoped that a higher power didn't have different ideas.

 _ **One Week Later, Willow's POV**_

 _ **Rosenberg Home**_

"Dammit!" she muttered as once again her small snake fangs nipped her lip as she closed her mouth.

She'd been doing it off and on for a week now.

Ever since Halloween she'd been doing her best to both hide her fangs and get used to having them in the first place but it wasn't easy. It was true that they didn't extend much further than her old canine teeth did but it was enough that she had to adjust how she bit into something as well as how she closed her mouth. It still wasn't perfect yet as she occasionally forgot that her teeth had changed, but she was getting better at it.

The first few times she'd accidently bitten her lip she'd been a bit worried that venom had been released from her fangs but, when she didn't get sick or anything, only two possibilities came to mind. Either she was naturally immune to her own venom or Halloween hadn't changed her enough to have venom sacks in the first place, so there was nothing to be released in the first place. She'd calmed down well enough once she'd worked through the logic but before that it had been freak out city. She'd been so afraid that she'd start dying any minute that she'd almost called up Xander right away so she could finally confess to him. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, she'd realized that everything was fine before she'd finished dialing.

Walking into the bathroom in order to take a shower she decided she would spin by the library at school to see if Giles had made any progress in undoing the lingering changes to her and Xander. Sure, she knew that Giles had said he'd need two weeks but even with only seven days she was sure the Watcher had made some progress since he'd started. Even if he hadn't she could help him out with any research that he needed to do and, if there was nothing to do, she could always study what would be covered in next week's classes to get a leg up on them. She knew if Xander saw her studying he'd either immediately leave so that she couldn't drag him into it or try to convince her that she didn't need to study so hard.

While she would freely admit that she thought her friend should take his studies more seriously, she was secretly quite proud that he was doing as well as was in classes. What many people didn't clue into was the fact that Xander was in the vast majority of her classes and many of them were advanced classes. The mere fact that Xander was able to get passable grades in the advanced classes he took with her made it clear that he was much smarter than most people thought he was. That did not mean however that he could slack off. It took dedicated studying in order to keep the grades Xander had where they were and, if he started goofing off, they'd drop, resulting in him getting kicked out of the advanced classes. While she'd still be able to see him outside of class, she enjoyed being able to look over at him during class, knowing he was there supporting her in his own way.

As for him convincing her not to study as much… she'd take compliments where she could get them if they were from Xander.

After all that was the main method he used to try and convince her to stop studying so she could hang out with him or go someplace to have some fun. It varied from time to time whether or not she'd let his words pull her away from her books but, even when she caved in, she'd usually wait until he'd complimented her at least three times first. It wasn't quite what she wanted, it wasn't him telling her how pretty she was or how much he loved her, but she'd take what she could get and what he said about how smart she was cheered her up. Thus she did what she could to balance her studies with having fun since it'd go far in keeping her two friends happy enough that they'd leave her alone when she wanted to learn more.

Taking the bottoms of her pajamas off, she was about to move onto her top when she noticed some odd markings on her legs. For a moment she thought that it was just a case of her pajama legs having been wrapped around her too tightly by her night movements, causing impressions to be left on the flesh. After all she remembered the few times she'd strapped her watch to her wrist a little too tightly and when she removed it she could see a detailed impression in her wrist. However when she looked closer at the impressions on her legs she realized that there was no way the marks could have come from her pajamas. For one thing those impressions usually faded within a couple of minutes of the pressure being removed from the flesh and she'd been out of bed for over ten minutes, easily. Another thing that removed pajamas from consideration was the fact that the impressions could not have occurred no matter how she'd slept the previous night.

That was because the impressions were in the unmistakable shape of scales.

SNAKE scales.

Covering half her feet and going up her leg to about mid-thigh were unmistakable impressions of snake scales. Not wanting to believe what she was seeing she reached out and tried to use her sense of touch to give her a way of explaining this as something non-freak out-ish. However when she pressed her fingers up against both the impressions and the unmarked skin it became clear that this wasn't just some outrageously coincidental formation. Both the impressions and skin felt distinctly different from normal human skin, something she verified by touching her face then the affected area of her legs. Something was definitely happening and, when weighed against showering, it was a definite no brainer what she had to do.

Running to her room she quickly put on whatever clothes were handy, only barely thinking to wear a dress so she'd have an easier time showing Giles her legs. Within five minutes she was out the door and on her way to the school as quickly as her feet could carry her because in her mind the need for the counter spell had just gone up. If she was right the more time it took to find a counterspell, the more the energies of the Hellmouth would change her body until she truly became a Kiyohime in every possible way.

She would cease to be human and the future she had planned for herself would be reduced to ashes.

She would NOT let that HAPPEN!

 _ **Sunnydale High School Library, Half an Hour Later**_

 _ **Giles' POV**_

"GILES!" came Willow's voice moments before the redhead burst through the doors of the library, startling him enough to drop the book he'd been reading.

"Willow? Whatever is the matter?" he asked, a bit surprised at the teenage girl's frantic state.

"THIS! This is what's the matter," she replied before grabbing the bottom of her dress and pulling it up.

Flustered and more than a bit uncomfortable, he reflexively looked away as it was not proper for him to look at the young girl's legs.

"Oh stop acting like such a stuffy, prudish Brit!" she snapped with a mix of anger and anxiety. "I'm just showing you my legs from the knees down for crying out loud."

Taking the girl at her word, he carefully turned his head back and, once he confirmed that nothing higher than the knees had been revealed, his past difficulties vanished.

Too bad they were replaced by ones of a brand new nature.

Looking at the exposed lower legs it didn't take him a second to spot what had caused the young woman so much emotional distress. Covering almost all the visible skin were slight impressions in the skin that perfectly formed scales commonly found on snakes. Kneeling down in order to get a better look at them, he could tell that they were not something that could be caused by someone pressing something solid up against the skin. They were caused by the fact that Willow's body was apparently changing from a normal human girl to what she'd been changed into on Halloween night, or at least that was his assumption. However he was having difficulty fathoming how this could be the case when what research he'd done so far strongly supported the idea that all affected would return to normal eventually. Indeed, he had discreetly checked on a few students he'd been able to confirm as victims of Ethan's spell and they appeared to be completely back to normal. Thus he'd thought that, while more lingering, both Xander and Willow's changes would likewise fade away given a few weeks or months.

Instead it would seem that the changes were going in the opposite direction for Willow.

"May I?" he asked while making it clear he wanted to touch the changes in her legs.

After receiving a nod from Willow he gently began to inspect the impressions with his hands in order to gain a deeper understanding of the transformation that was taking place. Immediately he could tell from his sense of touch that the girl's skin was not precisely the same as normal human skin but rather was beginning to feel smoother than was possible. If the end point of the transformation was to completely transform Willow into a Kiyohime then from what he could feel it was still early and would likely not be complete in less than a month or two. That would hopefully be enough for him to come up with a way to reverse the changes, or at the very least halt them where they were. It might become necessary for a slight glamour to be applied in public but the redhead would still be able to experience a full and satisfying life.

Before he could proceed though he needed to find out why the alterations done by the Halloween spell were reasserting themselves as they were.

"Take a seat," he said before he stood up and moved into his office. "If I am to help you I will need a better understanding of why these changes are occurring. My research thus far on the Halloween spell and chaos magic in general certainly did not indicate that any of the affected would relapse into their costume identities."

"Then there has to be something unique to me that's causing this," Willow said, following that line of logic.

"Indeed. Perhaps if we can determine what that unique element is I can isolate it so that it will no longer fuel the changes," he said as he grabbed a book off of his desk along with a tackle box containing spell ingredients.

Leaving the office he walked over to where Willow was sitting before opening the box and removing the components he would need for a basic diagnosis spell. It was usually used in an effort to find the spot on the body where a curse might be affixed or a mystical poison injected but he was confident that with minor adjustments he would be able to get the answers he sought.

"How does this work exactly?" Willow asked with her usual curiosity.

"It is relatively simple. It divides the examination into three parts: flesh, soul and magic," he replied as he checked some of the bottles to ensure he'd have enough to do the spell. "Once the spell has determined in which part the problem lies it will then shift colors to signify one of three things: submission, co-existence or dominance. If the color for submission appears it will mean that the force changing your body is not hostile but is changing it by its mere presence. If the color for co-existence appears then it means that the outside factor is trying to merge with your body or find balance with it. If the color for domination appears the outside factor is aggressively attempting to change your body and perhaps your mind to match its own designs."

Personally he hoped that it was the first one, submission, since that would mean all he would need to do would be to reverse the changes and then expel the outside factor from Willow's body. If it was one of the others then separating it from the young woman's body might very well be impossible without doing her serious harm.

Once he had finished sprinkling the desired components of the spell around Willow's chair he picked up the book he'd retrieved from the office and opened it to the correct page. With the focus required for such a spell he began to chant the words, watching as each ingredient began to glow as it rose up into the air on unnatural wind. Once it rose above her head it circled for a moment before swooping down and pressing itself up against Willow's chest and turning to the color of co-existence.

 _While better than domination it still is reason for concern,_ he thought as he terminated the spell. _It means that a connection now exists between Willow and the foreign elements. The fact that the spell focused on her chest would also indicate that the source of the connection on her end is her innate potential for magic. Depending on how far along the merger is, I may have to severe the connection through force. Her future as a potential magic user would be gone._

It would indeed be tragic for, if he was right, the young woman's potential as a spell caster was truly great indeed and would only be an asset if his thought to recruit her into the Watchers Council came to pass. However his first and only concern at the moment would have to be to rid her of the foreign influence that was changing her back into a Kiyohime because he knew without a doubt the more traditional members of the Council would insist she be slain. Unlike the more progressive faction to which he belonged the, traditionalists were a very cut and dry group who believed in a black and white world where it was humans versus demons. The very thought that there might be demons that were harmless or beneficial was laughable to them, even with documented evidence from the volumes of past Watchers. The Traditionalist faction dismissed this and believed that such volumes were written by demon sympathizers or fools who thought peace with some demonic species stood a decent chance of becoming a reality. At the moment it was this faction that had dominance in the Council through their leader Quintin Travers and he had no doubt if the man learned of Willow's condition, assassination plans would be drawn up.

He had to find a way to reverse the changes before word trickled back to London of Halloween's lingering effects.

"It would seem, Willow, the force that is responsible for the changes to your body is tied to your magic potential and is attempting to co-exist with it," he said, telling the results of the spell to Willow. "This is both good and bad. It is good in that it means that it isn't trying to force its changes upon but rather is trying to work with whatever is a part of you already. This means it will take more time for it to complete its work and give us time to find a way to counter it. The bad part is that there is a strong chance that even if I am successful in returning you to normal there will likely be damage to your potential to do magic."

"What kind of damage?" Willow asked, sounding concerned about his final statement.

"In the best case scenario you're potential will be reduced by only a third. Regrettable but not too much of a problem if my guess about the size of your potential is correct," he replied as he worked his way up to the less than savory part. "If things go as bad as they possibly can… your magic potential will be completely obliterated, rendering you incapable of casting the simplest of spells."

He could tell that the thought of having her hopes to become a spell caster ended before they began so he decided he would try to give her hope.

"Chin up, Willow," he said, trying to sound more optimistic than he actually felt. "The fact that you notified me of this so early means the changes have not yet set. I promise you I will spend every spare moment I have working to find the perfect counter spell for your condition."

"Better make that two perfect counter spells, G-Man," came Xander's voice from behind him.

Turning around to inquire what the young man was referring to, he found he didn't need to speak in order to get his answers. Standing just inside the library was Xander but, unless the teenager had taken to dying his hair, yet another of his charges was experiencing changes to his person. The top of the young man's head was beginning to show strands of white hair that very much looked like the white hair that could be found on the wig that went with the Nurarihyon costume. It wasn't the dominant color of the young man's hair yet but, if it was like Willow's legs, then it would be a progressive thing that would continue until thwarted.

"That would seem to be the order of the day," he said before gesturing to an empty chair. "Since you are here please sit down so that I can perform the same spell I used on Willow. It will help with my research and perhaps speed things along."

With a shrug Xander did as he was told and once the teenager was settled he repeated the spell he'd used on Willow but the results he got both explained a few things as well as added to his research workload.

There was only one thing he could say to this.

"Bloody hell," he muttered as he terminated the spell and ran a hand through his hair.

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"What do you mean I'm part demon!?" he exclaimed.

"As I stated, Xander, the element that his changing your appearance is tied to your flesh as well as your soul. Typically this only occurs when someone of a special lineage is involved," Giles replied while giving his glasses a quick shine. "Also the fact that the element is choosing to be submissive is a strong indicator that a part of you is of demon origin or descended from an immensely powerful human."

"Then maybe it's a powerful human!" he exclaimed, begging for that to be the option.

"Possible but unlikely. The number of humans powerful enough to cause such a potent transforming force to behave this way are rare indeed and, if this was the case, you would have exhibit some manner of ability before now," Giles said with an understanding look. "It is far more likely that you have demonic heritage and this might explain why both Ampata and the praying mantis demon were drawn to you. Some demons and cursed individuals can perceive such things if they get close. It's likely that when the spell caused you to turn into Nurarihyon, it caused what little demon blood is in you to become active."

"Well do you know how to deactivate it?" he asked, hoping there was a way to force his unclean heritage back into dormancy.

"Possibly. I will first have to identify what breed of demon the blood you have within you. Some demon blood is more… resilient than others," G-Man replied with a considering look. "Once I get that information I will be able to devise a means of binding that part of you while at the same time expunging the foreign element."

"Fine," he said, rolling up his right sleeve. "Take as much blood as you need. No way am I turning into some monster!"

The Watcher looked as though he was about to say something but then simply got up and went into his office returning a few minutes later with a first aid kit. It took about a minute to use one of the needles inside in order to draw the necessary blood but three full syringes of blood later it was done and a bandage applied. He really hoped that Giles was as super smart as he believed because if not it might take even longer to fix things and he got the feeling that time was not on his side. Odds are the changes in his body would happen at a steady rate until they reached completion rather than happening in fits and spurts. That meant the longer it took to find a counter spell the further the changes would spread and it didn't take a doctor to realize that, if it went past the point of no return, the spell would be pointless.

"I will likely need to cast the spell on Buffy as well," Giles said as he put the needles safely away. "If the two of you were affected by the spell this way there is a good chance she was as well. Her status as the Slayer might retard the changes more, much like it would an illness or poison, but I doubt that she's completely immune."

"Heh… Buffy might actually like some of the changes," he said offhand with a grin as he remembered her Hinoenma form. "She gained a couple of inches and at least two cup sizes."

WHACK!

"OW! Willow!" he said as he turned his head to see his best friend with a book in her hands ready to deliver another swing.

"PIG!" Willow said before she slammed the book down on the table and stormed off out of the library.

"In the future, Xander, you might wish to keep such opinions to yourself," Giles said with a bit of disappointment. "Most women do not care to know about the… base opinions of men."

The strange thing was that, after a moment's consideration, he agreed with the older man and was a bit surprised that he'd made such a slip up in the first place.

He'd been friends with Willow forever and ever since they'd hit puberty, thus noticing the opposite gender as something desirable, he'd gotten a crash course in what would or would not piss off a woman. It hadn't been an easy thing but he'd eventually figured out where the lines in the sand were as far as what he could talk about in front of women and what he should keep to himself. For him to say what he'd said a few moments ago, he was seriously beginning to think that Nurarihyon might be having more than a physical effect on him. The man might have been a decent ladies man in his prime but the mind that had taken control during Halloween had been the supreme commander as an old man who, sadly, had become something of a pervert in his old age.

Not as bad as some guys but definitely outside of the borders of what could be called a decent guy.

Thus it would seem that that part of the old man was beginning to seep through into his actions without him even realizing it. Off and on since Halloween he'd been able to recall moments of the youkai's life and they'd felt only slightly off from his own. He'd thought that that was how it would remain, that, aside from the physical changes, he'd only be able to recall a small group of memories, but apparently he was wrong.

 _I'll have to be more careful or before I know it I'll be doing the 'eat and dash' with every restaurant in town,_ he thought as he got to his feet in order to leave.

Not that he was opposed to free eats but the Lord of Pandemonium's actions were pretty reliant on his youkai ability to disappear from the sight of humans as well as choosing the right moment to slip out the door.

His timing was not that good.

Walking out into the halls of the high school, he wondered what he should do with this fine Saturday that was laid out before him. Buffy had asked them to join her at the Bronze tonight as a sort of 'welcome to Sunnydale let's hang out' thing for her friend Ford who'd just transferred in so his evening was pretty much set. Not being a Sunnydale native, the gang might have to stay on their toes in order to keep the new guy from suspecting anything until the local denial syndrome kicked in. Sunnydale syndrome kept the locals in the dark about what really went on the town, the whole Halloween had been written off as a hallucinogen cloud coming up from the sewers or something, but people new to town took a while to fall under its sway. Buffy seemed pretty pepped up that he was here but Ford had 'jock' or 'high school MVP' written all over him, so that pretty much meant he didn't like him. Never in all his days in school had he ever had a positive experience with any athlete, whether they were male or female since they tended to be cocky bastards that abused their status by tormenting others.

Oh, he was sure that there were probably a FEW jocks that might be nice enough to get to know but he hadn't met any yet.

Probably never would.

 _Whatever!_ he thought as he began to walk down the sidewalk. _Maybe I'll swing by Double Meat Palace for a bite. They have a decent enough breakfast menu._

 _ **Two Weeks After Halloween, Sunnydale High School Library, Morning**_

 _ **Buffy's POV**_

"What is taking Xander so long!?" Willow asked, sounding quite impatient for the meeting to begin. "We called him over half an hour ago!"

"I am sure he's on his way, Willow," Giles said with an oddly reserved tone. "The lad may be less than dedicated when it comes to his studies but he has remained true to his friendship with all of us."

Willow just huffed at that and continued to pace with irritation in every step but it was understandable considering how things had deteriorated in the last week. When she'd originally found out that her friends were beginning to relapse back into their Halloween costumes, she'd been worried that the same might be happening to her. Giles had cast some weird spell on her in order to find out but, strangely enough, while he could detect something foreign in her but it'd been nothing more than that. He speculated that perhaps the nature of the Slayer essence made this sort of spell unreliable and had told her that he'd search for a better one.

One week later and he was still looking apparently not satisfied with the variations he'd managed to dig up so far.

At the moment, though, she didn't think that the Brit's mood had anything to do with his inability to find a proper spell to use on her but more to do with her friends. She'd seen Xander in the hallway during class and, while a bit weird, the sunglasses and streaks of white in his hair weren't terribly out of place. She'd even caught one or two of the girls from the popular part of the student body giving him looks of approval but she'd keep that to herself. Looks of approval were a long way from actually considering her guy friend a potential date and she didn't want to get his hopes up by saying the wrong thing. Willow, on the other hand… the first real gal pal she'd made when she came to Sunnydale was having a harder time because the changes her body was undergoing were more noticeable than weird eyes and hair turning a different color.

Since the day that the redhead had first reported it the scale like formations on her legs had only gotten worse.

As of three days ago everything from mid-thigh down no longer felt like normal human skin at all and the second Willow had come in today she'd revealed to them that the scales were beginning to turn fire red. Giles had, of course, asked to see for himself but she'd intervened, knowing her friend would be wigged out enough without a guy paying such close attention to her legs. The two of them had gone into the Watcher's office and, once she'd closed the door for a bit of privacy, she'd asked Willow to pull up her dress a bit so she could take a look. The academic genius had done so and what she'd seen made her understand all too well why the redhead was so upset. Feel-wise she had to admit that the length of snake-like scales did not remind her at all of human skin as they had a smooth feel to them that no skin care product could hope to produce. As for color, she could see that red was beginning to creep in from the area where the individual scales touched each other with almost a quarter of each scale completely red.

Once she had finished with her inspection they'd left the office and she'd told Giles what she'd seen with unusual detail as well as surprisingly little Californian slang. This was by choice rather than a side-effect of the Halloween spell because she knew how much this was upsetting her friend and didn't want to hinder Giles by making him mentally translate Californese. This had brought about many 'oh dear' statements with the odd 'good lord' thrown in and neither of these phrases helped improve the disposition of the smartest girl in school. Giles had explained that this rate of transformation was greater than he'd anticipated and certainly nothing like what Xander had reported experiencing. The only theory he had was that Willow's inherent magical potential was somehow fueling the changes and, since Xander possessed no magic of his own, his body was forced to draw from his surroundings. With so little energy to fuel the remnants of the Halloween spell and the youkai blood within him, the changes would be slower.

She imagined that was another reason why Willow was mad at her best friend at the moment; he'd gotten a better deal than she had.

She was about to try and calm Willow down when the sound of speedy footsteps reached her ears and, from what she could tell, the feet were approaching the library doors. A minute later Xander came in but instantly she could tell that something else had happened and it wasn't something as concealable as Willow's scales. Clad in a trench coat that was way too heavy for west coast weather and it went almost all the way to the floor, making it clear that it'd been intended for someone taller than Xander.

"What's with the flasher look?" she asked, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Let's just say that if I didn't have it I wouldn't have gotten here without drawing a helluva lot of attention," Xander replied before something seemed to move beneath the coat.

Before she could inquire about the unusual movement her guy friend beat her to the punch and took off the coat, exposing her worst fear. Swaying back and forth behind him, seemingly attached just below Xan's waist, was unquestionably a tail and, while she could be mistaken, she thought it looked an awful lot like a fox's tail. It was mostly white in color and it had a black tip at the end but unmistakably alive rather than just some prop that'd been clipped onto his pants. Seeing this, she perfectly understood why the coat had been necessary because, even with Sunnydale Denial, a live tail would draw eyes.

"My word! How did this happen, Xander?" Giles asked, almost dropping the book he had in his hands.

"Not a clue," Xander said, looking freaked out by his new appendage. "I went to bed and everything was fine but when I woke up I found this sticking out. I'm just lucky my parents were so wasted last night, otherwise my manly bellow would've woke them up."

She did a half grin at the last comment since it proved that her friend was still in good enough shape mentally to put forth some decent quippage.

"Well, at least this verifies the results of my tests on your blood," Giles said while performing the Giles maneuver.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, momentarily brought out of her bad mood by her inquisitive nature.

"According to the tests and spells I cast on Xander's blood somewhere in his ancestry is a kitsune or fox youkai. Historically they are considered to be mischievous tricksters though some take on a decidedly malevolent slant to their actions," Giles replied, looking partially in thought. "They are capable of performing what is called fox magic that allows them to perform several spells to aid in their activities. Self-transformation, blasts of blue fire and increasing the size of small objects are just a few of the spells available to them."

"Well at least now we know your sense of humor is genetic," she said, trying to make light of his newest feature.

"Yep. I'm thinking it skipped a generation though because I can tell you right now my parents are completely lacking in the ha-ha department," Xander said, catching on to what she was trying to do.

"Yes, well I must admit that I am at something of a loss to explain why you've had such a reaction. Given that you have never before exhibited any kitsune traits in the past, the youkai blood must be seriously diluted over the many generations of procreation through human spouses," Giles said with genuine puzzlement. "At most I'd thought that you might gain some enhanced senses or perhaps stronger nails. Obviously there is some factor that I am not aware of behind this drastic change."

"Yeah, yeah, you can research it until you're blue in the face!" Willow exclaimed, her temporary interest in her friend's development now officially gone returning her mood to irritation. "Now that Xander's here how about you tell us when you can cast the spell to get us back to normal."

This caused just about everyone to look at Willow in surprise given that the redhead was normally so well-mannered and respectful of authority figures. She came to the same conclusion anyone would after seeing this outburst: the changes to Willow's body was freaking the girl out more than she let on and her ability to hold it in was failing.

Looking to her Watcher she waited for him to begin explaining how he was going to get her friends back to normal so that they could have a chance at a life she never would. However instead of giving a lecture on how he would go about accomplishing the task, a look of reserved emotion came over his face. When this was followed by the Giles maneuver, she knew that some bad news was coming their way with the only question being how bad it'd be.

"I regret to say that while I have discovered a possible means by which your respective situations could be resolved it is beyond my ability to utilize," Giles said with clear disappointment in his lack of success. "In Japan there have been a few recorded cases where citizens with youkai heritage have suddenly found themselves transforming into hanyou or half breeds. The texts I consulted were vague in the matter but they most certainly indicated that there was a process by which the youkai blood could be sealed away, or at the very least prevent the transformation from progressing."

"So what are you saying?" Xander asked, not quite connecting the dots in his head.

"I am saying that if you wish to pursue this option then the two of you will have to travel to Japan and locate those who know how to perform the ritual." Giles replied, clearly wishing things could be otherwise.

"What do you mean the two of us?" Willow asked, her emotions flickering between shock and anger. "You're not coming with us?"

"Sadly it would not be wise for me to leave to accompany you, nor can Buffy," Giles replied as he put his glasses back on. "Spike may be dead but the whereabouts of Drusilla are still unknown. Add to that the usual threats that frequent a Hellmouth and it cannot be left undefended for any length of time. Besides… I would rather not alert certain parties about what has happened to the two of you."

"What do you mean?" she asked, a bit puzzled at the last statement.

"I will not bore you with the details but there are certain powerful elements within the Watcher Council that would… react harshly should they learn of your circumstances," Giles replied, calculating his words carefully. "If I were to leave my post even for a few days it is likely that they would receive word of it and become suspicious. Perhaps enough to send agents to the Hellmouth and, if they were to learn of the changes the two of you had undergone, they would not react well at all."

"Like… they'd give us a boring lecture or something?" Xander asked, hazarding a guess at what might happen.

For a moment her Watcher looked as though he was trying to figure out a way to sugarcoat his response but then, judging from his face, he changed his mind.

"If luck is with us they may simply forbid Buffy from associating with you any further in any way with the penalty of… death should you refuse to abide by their orders," Giles replied with crystal clear honesty. "If we are not lucky… a wet works team might be dispatched to assassinate you both."

"WHAT!?" they all exclaimed. The idea of a supposed group of good guys killing two teenagers for no other reason than they weren't completely human anymore...

"There are some more forward thinking individuals in the Council who are tolerant towards humans with demon blood in them, or certain demon species. At the moment, however, the people in positions of power are rather black and white in how they choose to view the struggle against demonkind," Giles explained, making his own disapproval clear. "To them it is simple: humans against demons. Demons who are not evil or humans with demon ancestry are a grey area that they refuse to tolerate and so, when one appears, they eliminate it more often than not."

"So basically they're a bunch of racist fascists who think they're holier than everyone else?" Xander asked rhetorically, in a cold tone as his fox tail swung angrily behind him.

"While I wouldn't put it in such aggressive words, your description is essentially correct," Giles replied, ignoring the rhetorical implications.

This just made her hate her Calling and the Council all the more.

How dare they dictate how she should be living her life or carrying out the cursed Calling that'd been dropped in her lap! If they even THOUGHT of hurting her friends, she'd put the entire Watcher team into the ICU so fast they'd think she teleported them there!

"So how are we supposed to get to Japan?" Willow asked in a determined tone of voice. "Take a plane?"

"I don't know about you, Wills, but a plane ticket to Japan is going to be a bit pricy for me," Xander said, sounding reluctant. "I mean, sure, I'm saving up for my end of high school road trip, but I'm not even halfway there."

"No problem. I'll go online and see what the prices are and if it's too much I'll just put it on my parents' credit card," Willow said, not letting a little thing like money get in her way.

"Um… won't they notice the two thousand plus dollars I'm thinking the tickets alone are going to cost?" Xander asked, pointing out a problem with using Sheila and Ira's credit cards.

"Like they ever notice anything other than my grades," Willow snapped with angry, unrelenting eyes.

As much as she wanted to play the supportive friend, she had to admit that Willow's parents were gone most of the time and, since her friend didn't talk about them often, she could only presume that they didn't call much. Still, if she remembered the few conversations her parents had had over credit cards, the companies behind them had a system in place to look out for large, out of the ordinary purchases. If Willow bought two tickets to Japan, the monitoring people would definitely pick up on it and probably call the redhead's folks in order to verify that the purchase was authorized.

"Still, it would be best not to chance it," Giles said, voicing his opinion on the matter. "I know a few people in Los Angeles who owe me some favors. I'll ask them for a loan or two and that should lessen the financial burden on the two of you enough that you needn't bankrupt yourselves on the journey."

"You sure, G-Man?" Xander asked, sounding uncertain about the Watcher using up favors for them.

"I am quite certain, Xander," Giles said before a somewhat smug grin appeared. "Besides which, the people I will be asking for the loans have a nasty habit of getting themselves into trouble. They'll owe me other favors sooner or later."

"What about school?" she asked, deciding to get all of the potential problems out in the open.

"I could take the high school equivalency test anytime I wanted and pass easily," Willow replied, not worried in the least about her education. "Besides we'll only be gone a month or two at most. I can fake documents that say we were ill with something and Sunnydale Denial Syndrome will take care of the rest."

"The syndrome thing only works on demons and magic, Willow," Xander pointed out even though it looked like he wished he hadn't opened his mouth a minute later.

"So you want to keep turning into a demon?" Willow asked with a look on her face that many would back down from.

"Well…no…" Xander replied, scratching the back of his head in an effort to figure out his position.

"Then it's decided," Willow said before turning to Giles. "I'll look online and get the prices for the plane tickets to Japan. You get the contact information for the people over there that might be able to help plus the money from the people that owe you. Let's get to it!"

With that the redhead walked out of the library, probably heading for the computer lab since the library computer wasn't available due to repairs, leaving her and the guys alone. Looking at Xander and Giles, she could tell that they were a little surprised by the personality change in Willow but then, with a shrug, they accepted that that was the way it'd be and went about their assigned tasks. Xander would likely head home and begin getting the necessary things for the trip while Giles would do as Willow had ordered him to.

Taking a moment to reflect, she decided that she would not be much help booking plane flights or anything, so maybe she should go out to get some snacks for Willow and Giles. They'd likely be at it for a couple of hours and she knew what types of food and drink would cheer both of them up, so with a smile on her face she left the library with her purpose in mind.

As she left though she sent up a prayer to whatever god or goddess that might be listening that her friends would get what they desired. She might never get to be a normal girl but she at least wanted her friends to have the chance to live out their lives, experiencing all the things she never would because of her blasted Calling.

She'd see the future through their eyes.

 _ **LAX, Los Angeles, California**_

 _ **Two Days Later, 7:45pm**_

 _ **Willow's POV**_

"Here is the list, Willow," Giles said as he handed her a folded piece of paper. "It contains the names, addresses and what phone numbers I could find for the people in Japan who might be able to help you. They are considered authorities on Japanese magic as well as youkai, so if anyone can aid you it will be them."

"Thanks, Giles," she said with a tentative smile on her face. "Sorry about being so snippy with you the last few days."

"Think nothing of it. Your predicament makes your behavior perfectly understandable," Rupert said with an understanding smile. "I doubt anyone could fault you for your response to the situation."

She was happy that the man that'd been something of a mentor to her hadn't taken her behavior personally or let it damage their friendship. It wasn't him she was mad at but Ethan Rayne, and taking out her fury on anyone other than him just wasn't right. She'd realized this yesterday but it had taken until now to find the courage to face up to her mistakes and apologize.

Giles had come through in a big way for her and Xander with regards to their travel preparations, so to her that was an even bigger reason not to be mad at him. He'd called in three favors and managed to get enough money to buy the two of then round trip tickets to Japan, allowing them to convert a portion of their own savings into Japanese currency. With it they would have little trouble finding a place to stay and, if they were ever in a pinch, the Watcher had told her the location of an old friend of his who wouldn't mind putting them up for a while. Apparently the guy had done some work with the Watcher's Council for a few weeks, lecturing on youkai species as well as the Shinto religion, but had eventually been dropped when the time came for a practical demonstration. According to Giles the man was a virtual encyclopedia of facts but didn't possess even a shred of spiritual power, so while the guy could write sutras, they had no power in them. Nevertheless, her mentor and the Shinto priest had developed a professional relationship, keeping in touch over the years as well as using each other as consultants when necessary. The priest had already given permission in advance even though there was no guarantee that they'd need to take the guy up on the offer.

"Listen to the Brit, Wills! Start looking on the positive side of things!" Xander said, wrapped in his trench coat. "We're going to Japan! The land of ninjas and samurai and anime! Treat it like a working vacation. We'll look for the way to get back to normal and enjoy the sights while we're at it."

"I guess so," she said with only half the enthusiasm her friend had probably wanted.

He was doing the same thing he always did whenever something serious happened to get her all upset: make her laugh and look on the bright side of things. Ever since they'd first met he'd done his best to keep her smiling or distract her from her own problems but she gave as good as she got in that department. She'd put the clues together early on that his parents weren't the greatest and her picture of the Harris home had only gotten worse as time went on. She'd never forget the one time she'd gone over to Xander's place to make sure he got to school only to be confronted with the disheveled mess that was Anthony Harris. It had been a horrible experience that quickly made her decide never to go to the Harris home unless she absolutely had to. Indeed that was something that Xander had insisted on when he'd learned of the encounter through one of his father's rants. Ever since that time she'd done her best to help Xander like he helped her if only to lighten their respective burdens and make their lives a little brighter.

"All passengers for flight one-one-three for Tokyo, Japan should now begin boarding at gate nine," came an announcement through the airport P.A. system. "Flight one-one-three will be departing shortly."

"Well, that's our flight," Xander said hefting his carryon bag over his shoulder. "Better get moving or we'll be swimming to Japan rather than flying."

"Take care, lad," Giles said as he shook hands with Xander. "Regardless of how things turn out, know that there are people here who will accept you no matter what."

"And don't forget to keep in touch with postcards and letters," Buffy said with an encouraging smile. "I want to hear all about your time in Japan."

"We're going there to get our humanity back, Buffy," she said with some sternness before lightening up. "But we'll do our best to send a letter when we can."

With goodbyes said she and Xander left for the gate their flight was taking off from, with their eyes set on Japan where a potential cure for their growing conditions could be found. She'd already done some research on Japanese magic as well as youkai since she had some time left over from booking tickets. While she would of course go with Giles' list first, she had managed to find a few other possible cures that would just require a little hands on inspection for her to be sure. The books she'd read made mention of how some of the purification practices of the Shinto religion could successfully cleanse a person of any youki in their system as well as drive out any possession type youkai. She'd looked through Giles' entire collection of books and scrolls on Shinto practices but hadn't been able to find enough info to label it as a positive option. Still she believed if an ordinary purification could drive out foreign youkai influences, then perhaps she could devise an extra powerful one that'd make her and Xander one hundred percent human again. Some precautions would likely need to be taken with Xander since one of his ancestors had a child with a youkai kitsune, but she was confident she could manage.

She had no choice but to believe this.

No one sane could possibly want to turn into a demon and stay that way.

Not when they'd spent a decade and a half as a human.

 _I will turn us back to humans!_ she thought with all her resolve and determination. _Even if it means having to kick down the door of every priest, magic user and youkai in Japan!_

 _ **Fifty Yards Away**_

 _To think that someone like me would be here to witness THIS!_ she thought excitedly as she watched the targets of her observation begin walking to their designated gate. _My lord is truly wise beyond all reproach!_

She watched only for a few moments more before walking in the direction of the payphones nearby since it'd been part of her orders to report in the moment she saw those specific two arrive at the airport. However when she'd seen them first hand, REALLY seen them, she'd been so overwhelmed that she'd been unable to look away until just a moment ago. She'd only been informed of the basics for her mission but now she understood why this was so and agreed completely with the precaution. Their adversaries would have paid any price, taken ANY risk, to gain information on their movements, so the only way to slip by unnoticed was to make matters as vague as was prudent for the task.

Now, though, she would do as she had been bade by her Lord and Master.

Picking up the handset she quickly dialed a number she had been asked to commit to memory, one that would allow the call to be made free of charge, and then dialed another that would connect her with the intelligence division back home. It took a while but, when she heard an odd sound, she knew that it had connected and the necessary encryptions were being put into place in order to ensure the call would be secure. It took a full minute but she was nothing if not patient, especially considering the importance of what she had to convey to those on the other end.

"The rabbit hopped over the moon," spoke a voice on the other side in monotone.

"Glad it landed in the stew," she said in response, knowing the sign and countersign being used.

"Report," the voice ordered, apparently satisfied with her response.

"Both targets arrived as expected. They are en route to their gate and should be airborne shortly. Last call has been announced through the P.A. system," she said professionally, as befitted someone of her vocation.

"Report acknowledged. Proceed to secondary observation position and continue surveillance of target three. Keep us apprised of her activities and status," the voice said with command authority in every word. "Do not fail me and do not fail HIM."

"I will not," she said with resolve that might as well have been made of diamond given the strength behind it.

With that her report was done and, after activating a hidden feature in the payphone, something agents of her lord had slipped into the manufacturing facilities, she walked towards the parking lot of the airport. She had a lot to do in order to have all she needed at the ready for this second stage of her assignment and she could not afford to delay. The secondary observation position was in a location filled with 'them' and ruled over by someone that disgusted her completely, so she would be required to do much to keep her presence unknown to both of them. If they were to become aware of her presence they might deduce her reason for being stationed in their midst. That could NOT be allowed.

Her orders had been very clear on that.

 _ **Haneda Airport, Japan, Tokyo, Kanto Region**_

 _ **2:00pm (local time)**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Hard to believe it's technically the day we left five and a half hours before the plane took off, isn't it," he said, grabbing his luggage off the conveyer belt. "Not exactly the way I imagined time travel to be like."

"Me neither, but after over eleven hours on a plane I don't really care," Willow said, already with bags in hand. "Let's get to a hotel and sign in. The glamours hiding our real features have got about an hour before they start failing and after that anyone looking at us is going to notice we look a little off."

"Well if someone does wind up seeing anything, we'll just say we're on our way to a convention or something," he said as they began to head to where the taxis would be waiting. "This is cosplay country after all."

"And when they ask who we're dressed up as?" Willow asked, walking alongside him.

"We'll say we just threw something together or created an original character," he replied, not worried though he would be considering doing some research to come up with a more detailed answer.

When Willow didn't say anything more he began to review the plan they'd whispered into existence on the plane ride over the Pacific Ocean. The first thing they'd do would be to check into a hotel or motel, whichever one would allow them to come and go unwatched best, then try to get their bodies to adjust to local time. Jet lag was not a fun thing to have when you were paying visits to people that dealt in spells, potions and mojoed artifacts. The last thing he wanted was to accidently offend someone or touch something he shouldn't have because he'd been too weighed down with fatigue to think straight. Willow hadn't like this since she'd wanted to get on the trail of their cure within an hour of settling into their room but luckily he'd pointed out that their glamours would need touching up and that got her to reluctantly concede. It took a bit more discussion time but eventually they settled on giving their bodies a max of two days to sort itself out before they'd start going through the list. To help it along they'd try to time their sleeping to match the actual time of day and use sugar or caffeine to stay awake if things got difficult.

Willow'd already mapped out where each of the people on Giles' list were located and had even come up with the most efficient order to visit them. She had really gone to town with the whole 'visit to Japan', making it clear how strong her resolve was to fix their respective problems. That wasn't to say that he wasn't focused himself but he was quite a bit more laid back about it than her since he planned on treating this like a working vacation. He'd been something of an anime fan growing up so getting a chance to walk about the country where his favorite shows had been made was quite a treat. With a little luck the two of them would have their cures quickly and then could spend a few days doing the tourist thing before heading back to Sunnydale. Depending on whether or not they lost the memories of their costumed selves with the cures, they'd probably have an easier time of it since they'd be able to both speak and read Japanese fairly easily. Nurarihyon had learned each new change to the Japanese language as the centuries passed and, when he'd asked Willow offhand, she'd said she'd learned the language two years ago.

Apparently that'd been the summer where he'd been dragged to the Harris family reunion in New Jersey so she'd needed something to do to fill the time.

It didn't take them long to find a cab and once inside Willow fired off instructions to take them to the Golden Fox motel before listing the address for it. Considering what youkai supposedly had gotten busy with one of his ancestors, he turned his head to his best bud and lifted an inquiring eyebrow to his friend, wondering if it'd influenced her motel choice.

"It was pure chance," Willow said honestly, looking away from the passing scenery. "It's right in the middle of the places we'll be going and it's not well known enough to see a lot of traffic coming and going from day to day."

He had to admit that it made sense that way so maybe it was pure chance.

It didn't take them long to get to the motel and, after paying for a room with two single beds, they settled in before getting into their 'laze about' clothes. Lounging on their respective beds, he once more found it bothersome trying to find a comfortable position to lay in that wouldn't hurt his furry tail and BOY was he having a hard time getting used to it. He'd spent his entire life learning how to use and get used to just four limbs, a head and the family jewels, so suddenly finding himself with a furry fox tail just above his butt crack had been more than a slight shock. The sixty-seven centimeter long appendage, yes he'd actually measured it, had been more than a little surprising especially since it'd popped into existence overnight rather than over the course of several days or even weeks. Naturally the second he'd seen it he'd gone straight to the library to show Giles and that'd been two days ago. Two days of figuring out the right way to sit down, lay down or go to sleep without pinching the appendage the wrong way had proven most difficult. In truth he'd been fidgeting in his plane seat the entire trip as his tail had hit him with a sharp jab of pain or the sensation that it'd fallen asleep without him realizing it. When he got onto the bed it took him three tries but he eventually he found a position that he could be comfortable in, even with the unfamiliar appendage moving at random. He hadn't quite figured out how to completely control it like he would an arm or a leg but he did try from time to time when he didn't have anything else to do.

 _No need to put any real effort into it since it'll be gone once the counter spell or potion or whatever does its thing,_ he thought as he spotted the remote for the TV on the bedside table.

Before he could grab it though Willow took it and fixed him with a glare that implied something needed to be done first before they could watch any television.

"Since Giles' list of people who could help us is twelve people long, including the guy that knows stuff but can't do anything, we'll probably at best get four of them done a day," Willow said, taking on her 'I am a professional' tone of voice. "Tomorrow we'll be visiting Watanabe's Apothecary Shop, Sato's Herb Store, Takahashi's Antiques and Kuwashima's Natural Remedies. According to Giles their businesses are legitimate for those not in the know but they also deal in magic, with each of them being known to be able to get their hands on youkai ingredients fairly easily. They're the most likely to know about people suddenly going youkai and how to undo it or at least suppress the physical manifestations."

"Makes sense, plus maybe they'll be able to mix up some stuff on the spot for us," he said, nodding in agreement with the plan.

"That'd be nice but I've read some of the potion and spell books in Giles' office that deal on the subject," Willow said, sounding only partially discouraged. "Mixing something that can reverse physical transformations or suppress foreign elements in the body aren't things that can be mixed like making hot chocolate or something. There are recipes to follow, words to chant and in some cases otherworldly beings that need to be given time to consider whether or not they'll help out."

He sighed as he realized that the quick fix he was hoping for wasn't going to happen but he hoped that it'd come to an end before his and Willow's transformations progressed too much further. For him he was pretty sure that his tail wouldn't grow any longer but the same could not be said for his hair, which had only grown longer with the white bits spreading almost halfway down the length now. At the moment it stretched to just past his shoulders but thankfully it wasn't growing out horizontally from the back of his head so at least that was something working out in his favor. It was flowing and acting like normal hair but it was growing much faster than was normal for a human being, marking it unmistakably as the work of Halloween and his youkai blood. He just hoped that it didn't get much longer, though, otherwise he'd have to visit a hair dresser to have it cut and he honestly didn't know how safe or dangerous it was to cut demon hair. For all he knew the cut hair would start slithering around like snakes or come together to form some kind hair monster.

A thought then occurred to him.

"What if one of these people aren't home or something? Do we just forget them and move onto the next place on the list?" he asked, figuring it was a reasonable possibility.

"Giles said he called each of them last night so that they'd know to expect us soon," she replied with a shake of her head as she laid out papers on her bed. "As long as some kind of emergency didn't pop up between then and when we get there it should all be good."

"And what're the odds of that happening? Given this is us we're talking about?" he asked, figuring he ought to point that potential scenario out.

Willow thought for a moment before a slight look of disgruntlement crossed her features.

"You've got a point but what else can we do?" she asked, sounding like she wouldn't let something as small as 'emergencies' get in her way.

"I dunno but I've got your back no matter what," he replied with his usual lopsided smile.

"I know," the said with a quiet smile on her face.

They spent another fifteen minutes ironing out details and planning for contingencies but in the end he got a hold of the remote control and turned on the television. Naturally everything was in Japanese but with only some difficulty he was able to understand it all, so he wasn't completely lost in what he was watching. Willow was more focused on her notes, books and laptop, though, making it clear that until their mission was over one way or another, she wouldn't even entertain the idea of having fun. For a moment he thought about forcing it somehow but then chose not to since it'd only increase the friction between the two of them and that wouldn't do given their current situation. They needed to be able to rely on one another and that could only happen if there was zero mistrust between them. Willow was borderline obsessed with getting back to normal and obsessed people tended to react irrationally when someone they thought they could trust kept getting in the way of what they wanted.

Willow acting irrationally when she was transforming into a Kiyohime could lead to him getting bitten or fried, depending on whether or not emotions played a factor in the rate of change between what they were to what they were becoming.

 _Better not to risk it,_ he thought as he focused on the television and prepared to mentally make up a list of similarities and differences between Japanese TV and American TV.


	3. The Twilight of Hope

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because some people enjoy reading my stories. Therefore it would be greatly appreciated if no legal action were taken against me.

PS-Positive views will be appreciated. Constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted upon. People looking to be hurtful and bully me into giving up will be ignored at the very least and at most will be review blocked.

 _ **Two Days Later, Morning, Shinjuku-ku, 6-6-6 Nishi Shinjuku, Willow's POV**_

"Did you really have to bring Nenekirimaru with you?" she asked with a bit of annoyance as she looked at the barely concealed weapon.

"Just 'cause we're not in Sunnydale anymore, Wills, doesn't mean we won't bump into any demony trouble," Xander replied, using his sleeves to conceal the sheathed blade even more. "I want something within arm's reach in case something comes at us."

"But it's daytime," she said, pointing at the sun in the sky.

"You know as well as I do that there are demons and nasties that don't care what time of day it is. Hell, a vamp can move around during the daytime so long as they stick to the shadows or drive around with their windows fixed up to filter out the U.V. rays," he said, shaking his head in rejection of her words. "Plus who's to say that the people running these stores are human? Could be demons that aren't picky about their customers. If that's the case then they might get twitchy when looking at two hanyou walking in their doors. Both Giles and the memories I got from Nurarihyon made it clear that half-breeds aren't well thought of by the purebloods of either side of the species divide."

As much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew he was right.

She'd done her share of reading too and had come across more than a few parts of the world where being a half-breed of any demon species and human made life rather difficult. Centuries upon centuries of bloodshed, hatred and grief had made it so that both species had ample reason to be hostile towards one another. When two managed to move past this ill will enough to fall in love and have a child, it almost always brought down a storm of fury and violence down upon their heads. If they were lucky they managed to move to someplace where no one knew them and where they could live out their lives more or less peacefully, albeit with some precautions taken. If they were unlucky, they got to see their child torn to shreds before their very eyes prior to being dragged off to spend the rest of their existences with imprisonment and pain.

While they weren't natural hanyou, perhaps not even quarter breeds since she hadn't bothered to check where she and Xander were at on that side of things, she didn't think the purebloods of either side would care all that much. Racism, prejudice and bigotry rarely allowed for rational thought, leaving those that were slaves to such things unable to act any other way than emotionally. Even if their situation was viewed from a scientific and logical point of view, survival would likely hinge on whether or not a cure to their condition could be found and implemented. If it turned out that they finished transforming into their Halloween selves or were stuck as mixed bloods, though, their only hope of survival would likely be in fleeing.

"Yeah, well, we're here at 'Kuwashima's Natural Remedies', so let's see if they can help us," she said as she reached for the door handle.

Once they were inside she saw a lot of things that reminded her of the magic shop back in Sunnydale, from the various jars filled with miscellaneous things, only a quarter of which she could identify at a glance. There was also an entire wall of cabinets not much bigger than a decent sized CD player that she suspected also contained various ingredients, as well as perhaps a few prepared potions. Behind the counter there were two people waiting to aid customers, an old woman of at least seventy years and a teenager that probably worked there part time, both of whom turned to look in the direction of the door. Dressed in Japanese clothes that suited their occupations along with white aprons, they pretty much looked like she'd expected employees of a place that dealt in natural medicines. Walking up to the counter, she reached into her purse and pulled out the card Giles had told her to show the people in each of the places he'd listed to let them know that her and Xander were 'in the know'. Showing it to the two people behind the counter, she was somewhat surprised when the moment they saw the card they began to drop curtains in front of the windows and lock the door.

"Giles-san told us you would be coming but I did not think it would be this soon," the old woman said with a polite bow. "I thought you two might take in the sights first."

"There'll be time enough for that later," she said, brushing aside any talk of having fun. "Did Giles tell you about our… situations?"

"He told us that you have begun exhibiting physical characteristics consistent with youkai and wish for aid in suppressing the transformations. Is this correct?" the old woman asked with an inquisitive look.

"Well, we'd like to get rid of everything non-human completely but if that's not possible then we'll go with suppression," she replied, trying to be clear and concise with her response. "The changes are… unwanted."

"Understandable. Not everyone finds the manifestation of their youkai blood to be a blessing," the old woman said as she came from around the counter. "Now, before I can say anything for certain, I'll need to see for myself how far things have progressed with you two. The further it has progressed, the harder it will be to reverse."

She'd expected this but just the same she was reluctant to drop the glamour in front of people she didn't know as she was afraid of the reaction she would get. It was probably easier for Xander since his only real changes were his eyes and the tail, of which the hair could be written off as an extreme fashion choice. For her, though, the fangs, the scales and, as she'd learned before her trip, her EYES were a little bit harder for her to conceal. Glamours only worked to keep people from seeing the changes and could only work for a limited space of time before flickering out. All in all they were unreliable, especially atop the Hellmouth where demonic energies and the stray magic from various practitioners created random interference that disrupted the image others saw. She'd had one close call during the two day wait but fortunately she was able to flee into the ladies bathroom and recast the glamour on herself. As far as she knew Xander's glamour hadn't failed but, even if it had, her friend had something of a knack for coming up with excuses on the spur of the moment.

Plus, since he wasn't a jock or a brainiac, people didn't pay as much attention to him as they did her, given her status as the smartest person in school.

"Alright," she said reluctantly as she focused on the necessary chant.

Speaking it once, she touched the shiny stone hanging by a length of string once before repeating the process with the stone hanging from Xander's neck. She could tell when the illusions fell from the changes in their expressions and without thinking about it she made sure her mouth was closed and that her dress concealed her legs. She imagined it was much like how some people hid nasty burns or scars soon after the wounds had been inflicted. Some had the strength to keep going strong despite the stares and looks of revulsion but sadly she was not among that group. She had been self-conscious about her looks for quite a few years and hitting puberty had only made it worse, especially when there was a certain someone whose romantic attention she wanted.

Halloween was supposed to have been her chance to get him to look at her as something other than a 'sister' or 'friend'.

 _I guess I got my wish,_ she thought as the old woman gently caused her to raise her head with a single finger.

"Yes… yes… definitely a kiyohime," the old woman said after taking a look at all the physical manifestations that were visible without removing an article of clothing. "Fairly common scale and eye coloring from what I can tell. How long has it been since the first signs manifested?"

"The fangs showed up the day after Halloween and the rest started showing up a little over a week ago," she replied after doing some mental calculations.

"And you, young man?" the old lady asked Xander.

"The eyes immediately after Halloween, the hair about a week later and the tail about two days ago," Xander replied, his fox tail wagging slightly behind him.

"Hmmmm… the tail is kitsune but the hair doesn't quite match," the old woman said, looking back and forth between the two parts of her friend.

"Well, when the Janus spell hit on Halloween, I turned into Nurarihyon thanks to some glue spilling on the wig I was wearing. Giles already told me what I turned into doesn't match what he knows about Nurarihyon but that's what the leftover memories tell me," Xander explained, no doubt hoping that it wouldn't complicate matters too much.

"Rupert has always had such complete faith in his books and scrolls," the old woman laughed, amusement on her face. "He doesn't realize that such things are only as truthful as those who wrote them. Many who seek to learn the ways of youkai, demons and magic reach a point where they become selective with what they choose to share with others by writing it down."

"They do?" she asked, a bit shocked that anyone would leave something out of such important books and scrolls.

"Of course, my dear. I believe I heard a saying that said something about information is power. Some power is simply too dangerous to leave where just anyone can find it," the old woman said as though it was the most natural thing. "Others leave information out because they wished to protect certain youkai and demon species from those that would mercilessly exploit their weaknesses or destroy a sacred location."

She guessed that made sense.

Giles had said that not all demon species were hostile to humans and she guessed the same could be said for certain youkai species. Therefore if a researcher was to learn an important fact or three about one of them, facts that could mean big trouble if they fell into the wrong hands, it was only logical that they'd omit them from any official documents.

"In any case, now that I've seen the changes I can safely say that the manifestations of your youkai sides are almost at the halfway point," the old lady said, turning to face the counter.

"Really? I would've put it at twenty-five or thirty percent at best," Xander said offhand as he let his gaze wander about the room.

"When it comes to the manifestation of youkai blood in someone who used to look perfectly human, the surface changes are the last things to happen. Think of it like changing the engine and wiring of a car before painting the outside of it," the old woman said with two jars in her arms. "The real dramatic stuff only happens once the person passes the fifty percent mark. Up until then it's like you're a boulder being rolled up a steep hill: slow, difficult but progress all the same. It's once you get past the very top of the hill that you start rolling down the other side: quickly, powerfully and dramatically."

If that was true then they didn't have much time to undo the changes and return to being ordinary humans!

"Can you help us?" she asked, trying to keep the borderline desperation from her voice.

"That is what I wish to determine, my dear," the old woman replied, turning away from the counter with an arm full to the brim with bottled ingredients. "Now if you'll follow me, we'll see just how serious your situation is and if there's anything I can do to help."

All four of them went into a back room that had what looked to be the Japanese mysticism equivalent of a magic circle, with various symbols and kanji written in specific spots. It didn't make much sense to her since none of the things that they'd dealt with on the Hellmouth was Japanese in nature or origin, so Giles had never needed books on Japanese mysticism.

"Now if one of you would kindly stand in the middle of the circle we'll get started," the old woman said, putting down the bottled ingredients she'd carried in onto a table.

Deciding to go first, she walked to the center of the circle and waited for the next instruction.

What happened next was a little more familiar to her as ingredients were ground up, sprinkled in various spots in, on and around the circle, mixed with the odd bit of chanting. From what she could tell it was a request for the elements to reveal the truth or something to that effect. It was about ten minutes later that the spell took effect as five separate plumes of smoke, each a different color, began to flow above her head and around the perimeter of the circle. This continued for about half a minute before the colors settled into a humanoid female form that closely mimicked how she was standing at the moment. She tested the theory by moving one of her arms and when the humanoid form did the same thing her theory was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Please remain still, my dear," the old woman said from the other side of the curtain of multi-colored smoke. "It's rather difficult to make sense of things when you move."

"Sorry," she said, quickly putting her arm back to her side and freezing like an ice statue.

What followed was a series of 'hmmmms' and 'ohs' as the old woman walked around the edge of the smoke curtain, making her wonder if she was an art piece being critiqued or a model about to walk down a runway being given a final once over by the chief designer. When the curtain of smoke suddenly dropped to the ground, it disappeared as though it had never existed in the first place.

Xander was next and it was fascinating to see what the smoke looked like from the outside rather than on the inside. It was like she was seeing the flow of energy within him, like some kind of sci-fi effect but with magic, but without any way to identify all the various elements she had no way to understand what she was seeing. Much like before the old woman circled her best friend, making all sorts of noises that implied curiosity, consideration and surprise before it all came to an end roughly at the same time as her own examination.

From there it looked like the old woman was going through a series of mystical calculations and formula but she figured it couldn't be too different from normal mathematical formulas. She'd have to remember to ask the old woman about it later since it was something she'd be interested in learning more about.

However the mood changed when with every inked kanji or number the elderly woman looked to be more and more frustrated by what she was learning. Nevertheless she had hope that there'd be some last minute breakthrough or a moment of epiphany that would lead to a suitable solution to the problem. After all they'd had a few times like that back home in Sunnydale, where Giles was on the verge of hurting one of his precious books because he was unable to figure out the mystery of the week. Glancing at Xander, though, she could see that he wasn't quite as hopeful as her but that was to be expected given the kind of luck he tended to experience. Ever since she had first met him all those years ago, she'd noticed how things often tended to turn sour for her friend whenever there was an element of chance involved. From bumping into bullies at the wrong time to girls he'd shown interest in after puberty hit (though why he never looked in her direction she'd never understand), it looked an awful lot like he was being hit with some bad karma.

It almost made her wish there was a spell to see a person's past lives so she could see who or what Xander had offended to earn his present kind of luck.

"I am afraid it does not look good for you two," the old lady sighe as she set down her ink brush. "If this had been a normal case of youkai blood asserting itself I could mix something together to help but there's magic involved in your transformations. Chaos magic at that. Without a means of purging the lingering chaotic energy from your bodies, my remedies effects will be random and diminished."

She couldn't help the slight hiss of anger that escaped her lips and she imagined that if she had a mirror she would've seen snake fangs poke out from beneath her upper lip.

"Don't worry, Willow," Xander said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and his lopsided grin on his face. "There are other people on the list. Maybe one of them'll have more experience with chaos magic and can get the stuff out of us. Then we can come back here and get the rest done. It'll be easy!"

She knew he was just trying to keep her spirits up and that realistically they both knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as that, but she appreciated it nonetheless. It was just the way things worked between the two of them: whenever one of them was feeling down or hurting, the other one would do whatever it took to make them feel better.

Within reason, of course, that is.

Though 'Xander Reason' and 'Willow Reason' did not always equal the same thing.

 _ **Three Days Later, Evening, Streets of Tokyo, Xander's POV**_

"I can't BELIEVE THIS!" Willow almost yelled as they walked towards the last place on the list. "We've gone through the entire list Giles gave us and not ONE of them could help us!"

"We've still got one more person on the list, Wills," he said, trying to get her to calm down by laying down a possible hope. "Maybe he's the light at the end of the tunnel."

"Weren't you listening to Giles!?" Willow asked with some hostility as she glared in his direction. "The guy might be an encyclopedia of facts but he has NO POWER at all!"

"Yeah, so maybe he'll tell us what we need to know and we'll take that to someone who can help us?" he said, never letting his own significant frustration get the better of him. "I know this is serious, Willow, but we can't give up hope. Even if this last guy turns out to be a bust we can always go back through the list and ask those people for the names and locations of other people 'in the know' that didn't make Giles' list. I'm willing to go to every mystic in Japan if that's what it takes! We just have to keep our cool. For all we know getting all worked up will only push us over the youkai hill even faster."

"I guess," Willow said, visibly trying to calm herself down.

It wasn't easy, that he knew from personal experience, but for Willow it had to be especially hard because, unlike him, she had a full and promising future ahead of her. She was a big brain with a love of learning and a knack for understanding complicated stuff that'd probably give him a nosebleed if he tried to understand any of it. That kind of smarts pretty much let people write their own ticket into whatever college or university they wanted and then had them graduating summa cum laude before moving on to a six figure job. To see that kind of future being destroyed because of a single chaos spell had to be maddening for his friend and desperation was definitely in the second place slot as far as how she was feeling. They'd come to Japan so full of hope because the one man they trusted in matters of mojo had given them such a long list of possible sources of help that they'd felt like they could do no wrong.

Now, though, there was only one final strand of hope left and it was a flimsy looking one at that.

The last person on the list, the one with all the knowledge but no power, was one Higurashi Ginzo, who was the head priest at a Shinto shrine by the same family name. They'd asked the last two failed sources of hope about the man while waiting for the results of the mystical tests and the guy seemed to be fairly well respected, albeit with one thinking he was a little eccentric. Both confirmed that the man was quite knowledgeable about youkai and the history of the supernatural in Japan, so the old man could probably answer any question they had. He did truly believe that even if the guy couldn't work the mojo himself there was a good chance that the man knew what had to be done to get the effects of Halloween reversed. Willow was a little more skeptical but he imagined that that was more due to the fact that every other hopeful had turned into a dead end than anything else.

As they turned the corner he could see the steps to the shrine just a little over two blocks away but he also spotted something that had him on edge a little over a block away. It was a solitary figure that seemed to be waiting for someone or something and leaning up against the lamp post while they did so. There was nothing OBVIOUSLY frightening or concerning but he just couldn't help but feel a little on edge and his right hand had inched just a little closer to the hilt of Nenekirimaru. If there was trouble he wanted to be able to pull it out in an instant to defend both him and Willow from harm, no matter what form it took. If the unknown was human he knew that the blade wouldn't do any permanent harm but would cause significant pain, providing an opening for a more effective solution. If it turned out to be a demon or a youkai it would be able to swiftly end things, either through death or by scaring the attacker into retreating. Either option was fine with him so long as it left him and his best bud unmarked and safe.

It was just as they got to within half a block of the unknown that things took a turn for the weird when the waiter took a glowing orb the size of a ping-pong ball out of his pocket. This caused both of them to stop in their tracks, fearing some sort of attack but what happened turned out to be something of a curveball. In a single motion the unknown crushed the ball, releasing a wave of purple light that expanded in all directions and was partially tangible as he actually felt pushed back a bit. However what really startled the two of them though was when the piece of jade that Willow and Giles had chosen as the focal point of their glamours shattered. Instantly he knew that they no longer looked like ordinary people but rather like the youkai half-breeds they currently were until the transformations reached their end point. The fact that this person had such an item with him implied that he expected to come across someone concealed by glamour and possibly even the specific type of glamour that had hidden the true features of him and Willow.

But how could that be?

"It's you… after so many centuries… it's you," the man, as denoted by his voice, said as he ceased leaning against the lamp post. "HehehehehehehaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FINALLY!"

"Um… .have we met?" he asked, knowing it was a stupidly cliché first question but he was unable to think of anything else.

"Before now? No… no… but all surviving youkai in Japan know your face, Xander," the man said with menacing mock friendliness. "It's been burned into our minds ever since the day our people were massacred in a battle that could've allowed youkai true dominance in Japan. Now there's only one thing we have left: **REVENGE**!"

The guy began to grow in size, first stretching the clothes he'd been wearing to their limits and then causing them to be torn apart under the strain as the man grew larger still. Fur became visible on the exposed skin, growing thicker even as the man's head began to change shape to match that of a dog or a wolf. By the time all was said and done what once had been a rather unassuming man was now an eight foot tall canine demon looking at both him and Willow like all that mattered was their deaths.

Instinct; that was what'd prompted him to grab Willow and dive as far to the side as he possibly could and it was a good thing he had because a very large clawed hand shattered the concrete sidewalk where they had been like it was nothing. It shocked him that something so large could move so quickly but he didn't have much time to contemplate that as their fanged attacker quickly reacquired them before attacking again. With all the speed he could muster he unsheathed Nenekimimaru and brought it up just in time to slash at the vengeful youkai's outstretched hand, cutting it open and forcing the hostile one to take a step or two back. Blood flowed from the wound but that was not all because there was also a glowing vapor that exited through the cut at a speedy pace, rising into the sky before vanishing entirely.

All three of those present looked at the wound but it was the attacker who spoke first.

"So that is the famous Nenekimimaru. Impressive," the man said with grudging respect even as he picked up a piece of his former disguise to fashion a crude bandage for the wound. "A blade that is incapable of harming humans yet can deal grievous wounds to demon and youkai alike, spilling their blood and draining their energy. I suppose I should thank you for this cut. My mind was so full of fury I couldn't think straight. Not anymore."

Then like a switch had been flipped the attacker's movements went from bloodthirsty and savage to the calculating combos you'd expect from a professional warrior. Pushing Willow away from him in order to divide their forces and the attacker's attention he was given no more than a second or two to perceive an incoming attack before it was upon him. He had thought that by dividing his foe's focus in two directions it'd make fighting the guy easier but he was wrong because it appeared that whoever this canine youkai was, he'd been trained to fight multiple opponents. Each time Willow tried to come to his aid she was knocked back with a blow that did its job but did not expose the assailant's weak spots. He called upon every lingering memory of battle that he'd inherited from Nurarihyon to aid him in the struggle but this only seemed to push things closer to a stalemate rather than victory. Even with Willow providing the occasional distraction to help him out, his moments of turning the tables only lasted a maximum of six seconds before the attacker regained his momentum.

Worst of all, though, all this fighting was pushing him to his limits physically and was chewing through his stamina like he usually went through a box of Twinkies.

He couldn't even use some of the moves he remembered Nurarihyon using because such techniques required at least five seconds of concentration before one of them could be employed. Mostly this was due to the fact while he could recall how the moves worked, he had not actually tried to use them since the Halloween spell was terminated. Thus, much like it was impossible for someone who's studied swordsmanship from books to defeat someone who'd actually wielded a sword in real combat for many years, so too was it impossible for him to use his costume's moves as freely as the originator might've. Nevertheless he needed to come up with some kind of plan otherwise neither he nor Willow would have long to live.

 _C'mon, c'mon! What can hurt a canine youkai!?_ he thought as he tried to use a serious of feints to get in close with Nenekimimaru to deal a serious blow.

The only things he could think of were spells and weapons wielded by onmyōji or priests that dealt in combating demons but the only place close by that had anything like that was the Higurashi Shrine and the head priest had no power. Somehow the power of the old man's bloodline had skipped a generation and left him without a shred of spiritual energy to speak of. Still… holy places like shrines usually had spiritual energy soaked into every surface and protections that could last for centuries before they'd need maintenance work done on them. If he and Willow could get onto the shrine grounds there was a chance that wolfy wouldn't be able to follow and, even if Fang didn't leave, the guy wouldn't be able to get too close.

True, given what was happening to their bodies there was a chance they'd be kept out, too, but it was all he had at the moment.

"Willow! Follow me!" he yelled before lunging at the wolf, ignoring the cuts he got and delivering a slice to his foe's hip before sprinting towards his only possible source of sanctuary.

He could feel the blood trickling from the wounds and the pain that went with such cuts but he ignored both since each could be dealt with when he wasn't in danger of something a lot more permanent like, say, death. He could hear the canine youkai closing in but all he could do was pour on the speed as best he could until he was up the steps of Higurashi shrine and into the inner property itself. A single glance at least told him that Willow wasn't more than four steps behind him so he needn't worry about her being left behind or captured. As he began to climb up the steps he waited for any sign that his hunch, his hope, had paid off but, when nothing happened as he reached the halfway point of the stairs, he chanced a look back.

He did not like what he saw.

The youkai was still coming.

 _Great! Now I gotta hope I live long enough to come up with a plan B!_ he thought as he reached the top of the staircase.

Somehow he didn't think the odds were in his favor.

 _ **Higurashi Home, Kagome's Room, Kagome's POV**_

 _What was that?_ she thought as she looked away from Inuyasha's sleeping form towards the window of her room.

Up until a few seconds ago she'd just been sitting on the floor looking at the peaceful sleeping form of the hanyou that she'd been through so much with but that atmosphere had shattered when crashes, growls and cries reached her ears. Getting to her feet, she walked over to her window and looked outside with the desire to know what was going on but, when she looked through it, she was surprised at what she saw. A wolf youkai of enormous size was attacking two teenagers, one of which looked to be at least part youkai if the tail was anything to go by. Seeing only ten seconds of the battle she could tell that the duo were on the defensive and were losing ground quickly due primarily to the superior skill and physical abilities of the wolf youkai.

She knew what she had to do.

"Inuyasha! Get up!" she yelled before moving for the door to her room.

"Wha…huh…" Inuyasha mumbled as he woke up but she could tell the moment he heard the sounds of the fight as his expression snapped into readiness instantly. "What's going on?"

"A wolf youkai is attacking two people outside!" she replied, throwing her door open before running down the hallway to the stairs. "We have to help them!"

She wasn't worried when he didn't follow her since she knew he'd prefer to exit the house through the window but she needed to stop by the porch closet to pick up her bow and quiver of arrows. Despite her experience in the warring states era, the only weapon she had any real experience skill with was the bow so she wasn't about to go into the middle of a fight without it. She could hear her mother, Souta and Grandpa catching onto the seriousness of the situation from the living room but she couldn't risk them trying to get involved.

"Just stay inside, Mom! Inuyasha and I will handle it!" she yelled as she passed the entrance to the living room.

She hoped that they listened, especially Grandpa, because she'd never be able to forgive herself if one of them got hurt trying to help.

It only took a moment for her to strap the quiver to her back and, once she was outside, she could see that InuYasha was already mixing it up with the wolf youkai. Fortunately she didn't think it was too serious because the son of the great dog general Inutaisho hadn't even unsheathed Tetsusaiga yet, which meant he figured his fists were good enough. The two people that had been defending themselves up until then helped out where they could and between the three of them they were beginning to gain ground against the wolf youkai. Deciding to bring the confrontation to a close immediately she pulled a arrow from her quiver, notched it on her bow, pulled back the string and then let the arrow fly. Infused with her spiritual energy it flew through the air, striking the ground close enough to the wolf youkai that he'd be able to feel the purifying force but not close enough to do any real harm.

"Freeze! One more move and the next one goes through your heart!" she declared before preparing another arrow to be loosed, aiming it at the wolf youkai's chest.

With her added to the equation it looked like the furry foe was reevaluating his situation and no doubt wondering if it was still worth it to continue the fight or if surrender was the better option. Victory wasn't an option anymore for the guy, not with four on one odds against him, so the only two courses of action remaining were surrender or retreat. Truthfully she was okay with either one since it'd mean her home would be safe again but she'd have to see if the peaceful possibilities would come to pass.

One by one the wolf youkai looked at each person set against him and then turned to look at the teenage youkai boy that was part of the group he first attacked.

"This isn't over, BUTCHER! This wasn't the only chance I had to avenge those who died because of you!" the wolf youkai growled with bloodthirsty anger. "It was just the best. I'll be back!"

With that the youkai leapt clear over the building that housed the Bone Eater's well and disappeared into the trees, with only the fading sound of snapping branches or twigs giving them any idea of where he was. Inuyasha looked for a minute like he'd follow but then just gave out a 'keh' and crossed his arms before looking at the two strangers that still remained on the property. Both looked tired, liked they'd been giving the fight everything they had, and there were some nasty cuts on each of them that needed tending to.

First, though, she needed some answers though she'd keep her questions brief.

"I don't suppose you two can tell me what that was all about, can you?" she asked, looking at the youkai guy that the wolf youkai had been most pissed at.

"Sorry but I've never seen that fleabag before in my life and I have no idea why he's so dead set on turning me into a bloody smear on the ground," the teen guy replied, looking at her with golden, cat-like eyes. "But I do think he's a man or wolf of his word so I think he'll be popping up again soon enough."

The look she'd seen on the wolf youkai's face indeed made her think that he wouldn't give up so easily and that made her worry about her family. If the wolf came back and neither her nor Inuyasha were there to stop him… she didn't even want to think about it. She would just have to talk with both Miroku and Grandpa so that they could teach her how to put up a spiritual barrier around the entire shrine. Only once she was certain that the wolf couldn't return would she be able to breathe easy again. She'd never really tried to learn how to make them in the past because she just had so much else on her plate that learning one more thing, something that others could do instead, just seemed like something she could let slide.

Now, though, she had a pretty good eight foot tall reason to learn how to make a property safe from youkai.

A gasp of pain brought her out of her thoughts and she looked to see the girl about her age that been fighting alongside her youkai companion drop to her knees in pain.

"Willow!" the guy youkai said, running over to her side with speed superior to what a world class human athlete was capable of.

"Keep an eye on them," she told Inuyasha before she ran back to the house. "I'm getting the first aid kit."

Once she got the kit she quickly got to the side of the young woman that'd dropped to her knees and began to assess the full extent of her injuries so she could know what to do first. It was then, though, now that she was close enough, that she realized that the girl wasn't human either but some kind of snake hanyou. Scales were visible on the exposed parts of the girl's legs and, when she got a good look at the face, she could see snake fangs and eyes that pretty much sealed the deal. She didn't really care and would still treat them but at least now she knew that she'd have more time to work with before things got serious. Just about every youkai she knew was sturdier than a human was and had some measure of advanced healing ability to help them cope with serious injuries. She'd seen Inuyasha himself get a hole put through his chest and he was fine within a week or two, so from what she could see the injuries these two had wouldn't take long to heal as long as they were tended to.

It only took her a few minutes to bandage up the girl before she moved onto the guy, who looked to be the worse off of the pair.

"What're you looking at, dog boy?" the guy asked, looking over her shoulder.

Turning her head she could see Inuyasha looking suspiciously at the guy youkai and she guessed he'd been doing it a while if the guy she was patching up decided to inquire on the reason.

"I think you know more than you're telling," Inuyasha replied with his usual bluntness and zero tact. "Wolf youkai don't toss words like 'butcher' around without a damn good reason and that one didn't look the type to let this go anytime soon."

"I told you I'd never seen wolfy before tonight," the guy said with a bit of an edge. "The only reason we were even around here is because we needed to speak with a guy at this shrine about a problem we have. We didn't even decide to come here for sure until an hour ago!"

"You're here to speak to someone? Who?" she asked, wondering what two hanyou wanted with her family.

"Higurashi Ginzo," the… fox hanyou replied after she took notice of his black and white tail moving a bit.

"You're here to talk with Grandpa!?" she exclaimed in surprise at two hanyou seeking out her grandfather.

"And why shouldn't they, Kagome?" Grandpa asked rhetorically as he left the house, looking a little different than he usually did. "Despite my… lacking spiritual power, I am still the head priest of this shrine and a knowledgeable scholar in matters of the supernatural as well as youkai related matters. Now I trust this means that you're the two youngsters Rupert told me needed help suppressing or expunging you're newly acquired youkai blood?"

"Yeah. We've been checking the places Giles put on the list but they all say that thanks to the chaos magic that's gotten all tangled up in us they can't do anything," the guy replied, sounding quite discouraged. "Me and Willow are kinda hoping that you'll know what to do even if you can't do it yourself."

"Well, Rupert's an old friend so the least I can do is take a look at you two and consult my scrolls and books to see if I can be of any assistance," Grandpa said, stroking his beard a bit. "I promise you that if there's a way to help the two of you in this shrine or in my mind, I'll find it."

This was SO weird.

She was used to her Grandpa going on and on about the history of just about everything, telling her about various demons and artifacts, but she'd never really taken him all that seriously. After all she'd never seen him do anything like what Miroku could do and, well, it was hard to really believe that he knew his stuff without some kind of visual proof. Besides, the seals her grandfather had put over the well the first time she'd come back from the warring states era hadn't slowed down Inuyasha even a little. Then again… when the No Mask had woken up, Grandpa's ofuda had kept the flesh eating mask off his face even though he was pinned down at the time.

Maybe her grandpa actually did have some spiritual power but it only manifested in extreme 'live or die' situations.

Following the two new arrivals in the house with her grandpa in the lead, she couldn't help but notice that Inuyasha still hadn't lost the suspicious look on his face. She had to admit that she was a little curious herself at what the fox hanyou had done to deserve words like 'butcher' thrown at him but, from what she'd seen, he didn't seem to be anything like Naraku, so she figured it was a mistake or misunderstanding.

She didn't want to think of the alternative given that she'd just let the black and white haired hanyou into her house with her family.

Nope! Definitely didn't want to consider that possibility.

 _ **Seven Blocks Away from Higurashi Shrine**_

The wolf youkai ran.

Determined to evade pursuit so he could find a place to tend to his wounds and plan anew to reach the goal of slaying the monster that had brought about the deaths of so many youkai in a single day. What made the fury felt by the okami all the worse was the fact that, previous to that day, the bastard had actually been considered to be the most noble and respectable youkai in all of Japan. Many achievements had justified this position but that had only made the shock as well as the following rage all the worse when survivors of the battle managed to stagger back to their families barely alive. Indeed, most of them perished but not before telling all who could hear who was responsible for their deaths and the deaths of thousands and thousands of other youkai.

Many attempts in the following years had been made to extract vengeance for the fallen but by then their target had grown too powerful and those that remained loyal to him were almost as strong. By the time the twentieth century had begun a new plan of attack had been decided when a crucial piece of information fell into their nets that changed everything. Their target actually hailed from the future and had travelled into the past via an enchanted well at Higurashi shrine for some unknown reason. Seeing hope for the first time in years, he and other likeminded youkai had used every resource at their disposal to find out all they could and even brokered deals with THEM to get what they needed. In the end they learned not only when their hated foe would arrive to make his first trip back into the past but they also learned that he would be much weaker and relatively new to his abilities.

It was a golden chance for them to prevent the massacre that had claimed the lives of so many and alter the course of their kind for the better.

The wolf youkai had been but a pup when the massacre had happened but seeing his strong and proud father reduced to such a pitiable state had lit the fires of vengeance in him nicely. He'd spent every day since then training in the ways of okami combat, mastering every technique, learning every tactic ever conceived. When word had reached his ears that the leaders of their movement of vengeance were going to select an instrument to use in their efforts, he made sure that HE was the one they chose. He ruthlessly cut down any obstacles that got in his way and showed all observers the strength of his resolve to kill the one they all wished dead. In the end his hard work had paid off and he'd waited hours at the spot where his superiors had told him he'd cross paths with Xander. Their spies at the airports had told them of his arrival and others kept them apprised of the duo's movements during the past three days.

When he'd finally seen his prey with his own two eyes he'd almost charged immediately but had managed to reign in that impulse since he refused to allow his opportunity to be ruined by recklessness. He'd waited until the two had gotten close and then put the plan into motion by shattering the glamour that kept their true features hidden. Pride demanded that if he was going to kill his hated foe, it would be looking at the pup's true face rather than the disguise generated by magic. Once that had been done he'd gone on the attack, wasting no movements and exploiting every opening that presented itself to him. When he experienced firsthand how undertrained and weak this young version of the enemy was he almost found it impossible to believe that the young man could ever ascend to the position history showed he had reached. Nevertheless he trusted his superiors and their spies and so he'd kept up the assault, pushing harder with every minute that passed.

When his target had made his dash for the shrine he had thought for a moment that his prey might escape into the past where he could not follow. Fortunately this proved not to be the case and he'd realized at the top of the steps that the duo had thought the human shrine's wards would be enough to keep him out. FOOLS! His elders had already taken steps years ago in order to ensure that the shrine's defenses and the spiritual power of its residents would be woefully inadequate to oppose them. True, it had been something of a shock when it was learned that schoolgirl of the Higurashi family apparently possessed formidable spiritual power but the elders hadn't been concerned nor had he been. Both of them had been confident that he would be able to strike the deathblow long before the miko could intervene and be gone before he could be struck down.

Thinking back as he ran, he couldn't think of a single thing he'd done wrong but that didn't change the fact that he had failed to kill his prey.

THE BEST CHANCE TO PREVENT THE DEATHS OF THOUSANDS AND HE'D FAILED!

However all hope was not lost just yet.

The information gained from THEM and the spies of the elders had revealed other times in which Xander would return to the present that represented respectable chances for success. He had no doubt that the elders would scorn and ridicule him, perhaps humiliate him in front of the others, but he knew that they would still send him to finish what he started when the next chance arrived. There were no other warriors as powerful or as skillful as he was and everyone knew it! Nevertheless the public dressing down he would receive would be meant to provide him with incentive to not fail a second time and he would NOT fail.

Never again!

Suddenly two sharp spikes of pain hit him in the back of his hind legs and within seconds he fell to the ground, the limbs refusing to obey his command even as their rebellion began to spread throughout his body. His mind raced to figure out what had happened, to figure out who had attacked him, but even as he tried to flip himself over he found himself trapped in his body. He could hear, feel and see everything going on around him but he could not take action himself beyond a steady breathing tempo.

He did not have to wait long to get his answers because less than a minute later a quartet of footsteps began too approach him and moments later the owners of those feet entered his field of vision.

THEM!

 _How!? How could they have known of my actions in time to set up this ambush!?_ he thought as he redoubled his efforts to regain the ability to move. _We were cautious! We were cunning! We even provided distractions to keep them busy! HOW!?_

"I can tell from the look in your eyes that you're wondering how we set up this little ambush for you when you and yours were so CAREFUL," the leader of the group said with some amusement. "The answer to that, of course, is that we were prepared because we were the ones that dropped that oh so crucial piece of information into your group's laps all those decades ago. We followed your gang's preparations and even helped them along when it looked like you guys were having trouble. We even made sure that YOU would be the one they sent on this most important of assassinations. In short: all of you have been puppets since day one."

 _NO! Impossible! There would've been signs! We would've seen the truth and thwarted you!_ he thought with all his strength since his voice had been paralyzed. _There's no way the leaders could've been tricked so completely!_

"Indeed, it was almost ridiculous how they never once suspected that they were being played," the second person said, contempt lacing her words, "but then again we made sure that only the most arrogant, only the barely competent and resourceful rose to leadership within your little group. Any who might've done a better job were removed from consideration… one way or another."

 _LIES! ALL LIES!_ he thought with furious denial as his emotions actually caused his breathing temp to increase noticeably. _YOU'RE TRYING TO TRICK ME! MAKE ME DOUBT AND TURN ON THE ELDERS! IT WON'T WORK!_

"Now, now, little wolf cub! Calm down," the female said with malicious politeness. "The paralytic in your system will make it quite impossible for you to take any action whatsoever for the next six hours. Just enough time to get you back to my… play room, where we're going to spend the next century getting to know each other REALLY good. That was the deal."

"Indeed. Just as I promised you all those years ago, my friend. Once this one had fulfilled his role he'd be all yours to do with as you would," the leader of the group confirmed with a nod. "You were the one most harmed by his actions and therefore have the right to dispense whatever punishment you deem appropriate."

"Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me!" the female said with such sadistic glee that dread began to form in the wolf youkai's stomach. "See you at the next general assembly?"

"Assuming my children and grandchildren don't do anything I'll need to handle personally, I will be there waiting for you," the leader said with a nod. "Until then."

With that the number of people standing over him were reduced to two and still he remained helpless to do anything to improve the situation.

"Akane? Tell Chika to bring the van in," the female said without looking away from him for an instant. "I want to be in my play room before the paralytic wears off."

"At once, mistress," Akane said before taking out a cell phone and dialing a number.

To think that a once proud wolf youkai could be brought so low so as to be made into the plaything of one such as HER!

Never had a defeat been more total.

 _ **The Higurashi Home, Two Days Later, Living Room, Willow's POV**_

 _What is taking that old man so long!?_ she thought as she impatiently waited for old man Ginzo to finish looking through his last batch of scrolls. _He's been in there for HOURS!_

"Deep breaths, Wills," Xander said from where he sat petting the house cat, Buyo. "We've heard enough from this guy the last two days to know that he knows his stuff. If he's taking a bit long to go through those scrolls, it's probably because he's being extra thorough for us. Take this waiting as a good sign."

"I know, I know… it's just… I want my life back the way it was," she said, unable to find fault with her friend's words.

"We both do. I'm not looking forward to trying to explain away why someone felt something furry brushed up against them when they get too close to my glamored tail," he said with empathy. "Can you imagine how many sexual harassment lawsuits and weird looks I'd be getting just from just that?"

She couldn't help but giggle a bit at the image her friend had inspired in her mind even though she figured that with his luck it might just happen.

However the amusement didn't last as her mind recalled what she'd seen when she'd changed the bandages on some of the wounds she'd gotten from the wolf youkai two nights prior. The wound had been gone. Completely. Not sorta gone, not gone but leaving a mark behind, but completely gone as though it had never been there in the first place. While she didn't know by how much her transformation would speed up her healing she was fairly certain that recovering from bloody claw wounds in two days was way beyond the human norm. She just hoped it didn't mean that she'd somehow stumbled over that fifty percent mark that the other mystics had repeatedly told her and Xander about during their visits. Apparently if their transformations went past the fifty percent mark then the remaining changes would blitz them like a pro football team with a mean streak, condemning them to a life of a youkai forever.

That would be akin to death as far as she was concerned.

She would cease to be Willow Rosenberg, the genius human, and become Willow the Kiyohime without a home.

If the encounter with the wolf youkai last night proved anything it was that the glamour that the two of them had been using to look human was far from invulnerable. She'd have to do some research but she was pretty sure that whatever the okami had used had simply overloaded the glamour spell, causing it and all things attached to it to shatter. Considering how supernaturally and magically busy the Hellmouth tended to be, there was no way to predict what could have a similar effect or when it'd happen. With that kind of pressure going to Sunnydale High would be impossible, meaning she'd have to take a high school equivalency test within months of returning. THEN she'd have to look for universities that you could take classes for online rather than in person and she didn't think good places like Harvard or Yale had things like that. THAT would cause her parents concern, who wanted nothing but the best for her and her falling short of that would cause them to come home from their seminars to find out what was going on.

She was pretty sure that when they saw her new features they'd either throw her out on her ass or lock her in the attic, slipping a plate of food in through a slot once a day.

She knew that Xander'd do all he could to help her out and keep her spirits up, but making her think that her life was anything other than completely destroyed would be a little beyond his abilities.

If old man Ginzo couldn't help them… she didn't know what she'd do.

Her sense of hearing picked up the sound of approaching footsteps long before the head priest of the shrine appeared in the doorway, so she was not surprised when she saw him. However she could tell right away from the look on his face that the news he brought was not the kind she wished to hear fall from his lips.

"I am afraid that I must be the bearer of bad news you two," Ginzo said as he looked at her and Xander unflinchingly. "While I did find some scrolls that dealt with particularly tricky manifestations of youkai blood, they will do you little good to you now. Do you recall the blood samples I asked you to give me?"

"Yeah," Xander replied cautiously yet anxiously.

"While I may not possess sufficient spiritual or magical power to do many of the tests that would require such samples, there is one test that is as simple as it is accurate. I performed that test while stretching out the samples you gave me as much as I could so that I could perform it multiple times in order to confirm the findings beyond a reasonable doubt," Ginzo explained before taking a seat on a cushion near the table. "With five out of five tests being the same result, I can safely say that both of you have passed the point of no return with your youkai transformations."

"But we were under that just a few days ago!" she exclaimed, unable to understand how they went from 'healthy breathing room' to 'past the point of no return' in three days.

"Based on my studies and what I've read in my scrolls, I believe it was your struggle with the wolf youkai that pushed you past the fifty percent mark," Ginzo said sympathetically as he looked at them. "Would I be safe in assuming that prior to two nights ago you had never fought using your transforming bodies?"

"Yeah. We pretty much kept quiet since Halloween," Xander replied with a nod of his head. "No major action or demon fighting. Just going to school."

"Well, in matters of youkai blood manifesting after long periods of dormancy or, in the young lady's case, receiving it as the result of a spell, it often acts like a poison. The more a subject exerts themselves, the faster the transformation will progress and when one is fighting as you were it adds the duress of survival that accelerates things even more." Ginzo explained as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Add to that the energy needed to recover from your wounds…"

The old man didn't need to say a word more because she understood the situation.

She understood and she was PISSED!

She didn't care that the others reacted to her fangs came out along with a hiss that could easily have come from a normal snake, albeit with a bit of amplification. She had just been told point blank that, thanks to some okami bastard, her life was gone and now she had no choice but to cope with circumstances that she had no idea how to deal with. How did you cope with changing species? How did you cope with having the life you'd planned for reduced to so much ash?

"I'm gutting that sonuvabitch when he comes back!" she hissed as she latched onto the only emotions that improved her disposition or at least pulled her out of her misery.

Fury and vengeance!

"And I'll supply the blade," Xander said, putting Nenekimimaru unsheathed on the table.

"W-why don't you two take some time to calm down and think things through?" Mrs. Higurashi asked, sounding a little fearful. "This is a lot to take in all at once and if you give it a day or two you might find things aren't as bad as they look."

She very much doubted a few days would change her opinion of things but, seeing the fearful look on the woman's face, she realized that the Higurashi family didn't deserve her fury. They had done all they could to help and, if it hadn't been for Kagome and Inuyasha, she could very well have been killed by the wolf youkai. She wasn't so bad off that she'd think that she might've been better off dead so she was happy to be alive and therefore was grateful that she'd been saved. Therefore with CONSIDERABLE effort she reigned her emotions in and used what know how she had to pull her fangs back beneath her lips in order to appear less terrifying to the family that'd put them up for two days.

"Sounds like good advice, Mrs. H," Xander said with his usual lopsided smile as he tried to put the other room occupants at easy. "Hope you won't mind putting us up for another couple of days. Without our glamors we can't exactly blend in and we took a big enough risk just getting our stuff from the hotel."

"Not at all, Xander," Mrs. Higurashi said with a polite smile on her face and dwindling fear in her eyes. "You've been such nice guests and you've had some trying news dropped in your lap."

With that moment of difficulty overcome things devolved into your usual night lounging in the living room before going to their respective futons to get some sleep.

Sleep didn't come to her for a long time.

 _ **The Courtyard of the Higurashi Shrine**_

 _ **The Next Morning**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

 _It's seriously wig worthy but at the same time cool,_ he thought as he continued to try and perform the kata his Nurarihyon memories were showing him. _Before now all I knew about swords was that the pointy end went in the other guy. Now… it's rough and incomplete… but I kinda know how to use Nenekirimaru._

Indeed he could get two moves through the kata fairly smoothly but when his mind reached for the third it was hazy and he had to focus in order to bring it out. He'd then resume the kata and maybe manage another three moves before the problem resurfaced but still it was progress. He also found that after he performed the move himself rather than allowing it to remain a Nurarihyon memory it became easy to remember how it felt and thus easier to perform. With enough practice he figured he could perform every technique and every kata he could pull from his costume's memories with reasonable competency. Nevertheless he wasn't stupid enough to think that it would make him a competent fighter with the spirit blade. Katas were a set of moves to be performed at a specific speed, with the intent of internalizing each individual move so that performing them became reflexive and natural. He'd probably have to do the katas hundreds of times before each technique became instinctive enough that he could rely on them in battle.

That plus he'd actually have to fight someone with Nenekirimaru a dozen or two times before he could get a feel for what worked and what didn't.

Not for the first time he wished that he'd gotten the version of the blade that was closer to an actual katana in length because, at its current size, he'd have to get pretty close in order to be able to use it on anyone or anything. Considering the fact that he didn't know how durable he was or whether or not he could regenerate at a superhuman rate of speed, he'd rather not risk close quarters fighting until he was sure he could defend himself. He did recall that Nurarihyon could survive impalement and having an organ ripped out of his body, as well as several strikes by Hagorome Gitsune's tails, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd be able to as well. Considering the fact that any ONE of those moves could kill a human, he was in no hurry to empirically find out and would leave it up to chance to pick an appropriate time.

When there was a hospital or a well-stocked med-kit close for preference.

As he saw the sun finally peek over the top of the buildings he sheathed the blade and walked back towards the residential building of the shrine. Much like Willow he'd had trouble sleeping with the knowledge that he'd never be human again but what'd really kept him awake were the words spoken by the wolf youkai. He still couldn't recall a single thing that'd earn him the label 'butcher' and, considering that the would-be assassin said that the incident happened centuries ago, that meant only two things: Either it was indeed a case of mistaken identity or somehow in the future he'd be transported back in time and eventually commit whatever act the wolf youkai had accused him of doing.

As a result of these thoughts his dreams had been filled with the worst case scenarios, populated by both Willow and the youkai Nurarihyon had come to know over his lifetime. No matter what the source of the faces, the feelings that burst forth when he saw them cut down in his dreams were equally potent and painful. It hadn't gotten so bad that he was shaken awake or cried in his sleep but it had cut the amount of time he normally slept in half. Oh, he'd tried to go back to sleep but every time he closed his eyes the images from the dreams drifted past his mind's eye leaving him emotionally troubled.

It was pretty much the reason why he was practicing with Nenekirimaru so early in the morning.

The question he needed to answer though was what can he do to get past this.

Ignoring the problem until it went away wasn't his style, especially with how that way of thinking had turned Sunnydale into deathtrap thanks to Sunnydale Syndrome. It'd also take weeks, if not months, before he'd likely be able to sleep normally again and that wasn't something he was willing to suffer through needlessly. The other option was to confront the problem at its source, the date of this supposed massacre he was responsible for, and change it for the better if that was at all possible. However in order to do that he'd have to at least have a general time frame to work with because 'centuries' was a pretty generalized starting point.

Maybe he could ask old man Ginzo about it.

While he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel SOME bitterness towards the old man for failing to find a way for him and Willow to be human again, if G-Man said the guy knew his stuff than that was good enough for him. Add to that his own granddaughter Kagome's opinion that the guy knew a lot about youkai and the history of the shrine itself and he was confident that asking was good idea.

Hearing the sounds of someone moving around inside the residential building he sheathed his blade and walked leisurely towards it. He was inside only a few minutes later and, just as he'd hoped, the person moving about was Ginzo, looking like he was preparing for his day as head of the shrine. There was still some fatigue in the old man but dedication to his duties was enough to keep the man going even though some would say he should hire some help to lighten the load, for his health's sake if nothing else.

"Higurashi-san?" he asked in order to get the old man's attention.

"Good morning, Xander," Ginzo said with a polite smile on his face. "You're up awful early."

"Had a bit of trouble sleeping," he said with a serious expression. "I had a lot on my mind."

"I imagine so," Ginzo said, looking as though he could empathize.

"Look… I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you," he said, trying to think about how he should phrase it. "I know you and your family are already doing a lot by putting me and Willow up but…"

"You're a friend of Rupert's and that's reason enough for me to show you some hospitality," Ginzo said, brushing off the 'imposition' of providing someplace to sleep. "Besides that, you and your friend Willow have had a rather life changing bit of news dropped in your laps, so it would be wrong to ask you to leave immediately. If you need something more then ask and I will see what I can do to provide."

"I was wondering if you could do some research for me," he said, showing his resolve with his words. "I want to know of any big battles involving youkai happened between the time your well connects to and pre-eighteen ninety-seven. Specifically if there was ever a record of a sizeable massacre of youkai as a result of the battle."

"You're concerned about what that wolf youkai accused you of." Ginzo's words were more as a statement than as a question.

"Yeah. The funny thing is before Halloween and being changed I only considered demons as something to slay or run away from. Sure, Giles had told me that there were neutral and 'nice' demons in the world but when the only kind you run into are the type that want to kill you, any other type doesn't feel real," he said, trying to explain what he was feeling. "After having Nurarihyon in my head and his memories sticking around after the spell ended, I can actually imagine being close friends with youkai. So the idea that I could one day… I can't sit by and do NOTHING! If there's a way I can stop it from happening, I plan on doing it."

"Understandable. I too once thought ill of youkai," Ginzo said, taking a sage tone of voice. "However after meeting InuYasha and hearing about Shippo and Kirara from Kagome, I have… moderated my opinion to a degree. I shall do what I can to find out what you wish to know but I will likely have to consult with a few colleagues on the matter. Mostly because they possess certain scrolls and artifacts that I do not."

"Not a problem. Just… don't mention anything about me and Willow," he said with a bit of wariness in his voice. "It's gonna be a while before she gets over last night's news and someone coming around asking questions would probably push all the wrong buttons with her."

"I shall be the model of discretion, Xander," Ginzo declared with a serious tone of voice.

"Thank you. Even if you don't find anything… thanks," he said before heading upstairs to hopefully get first crack at the bathroom before the rest of the house did.

Thankfully he was pretty sure all the women in the house were still asleep so, unlike the anime he loved, he wouldn't have one of those funny moments of walking in on one of them while they were partially or completely undressed. Sure, that left InuYasha and Sota but he was fairly sure that the former wouldn't use the bathroom unless he had to and if Sota was like any normal kid, he'd be sleeping in until mid-morning.

Besides, maybe since he'd switched species his luck would change for the better too.

 _ **Three Days Later**_

 _ **Willow's POV**_

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GOING BACK IN TIME!?" she bellowed at the top of her lungs.

It had been four days since she and Xander had been told the horrible news that they would never be human again and, of the two of them, she had taken things the worst. The first thing she'd done was have Ginzo-san go over his tests and research materials with her one by one, explaining everything as he went. The old priest didn't take personal offense to this, instead treating her like any other teacher would a new pupil and, unless it was very much her imagination, the elderly man was enjoying himself. She got the distinct impression that too few people actually listened to what he had to say and actually tried to remember it so the fact that she was being so attentive pleased him greatly.

Regardless, going over Ginzo-san's information half a dozen times didn't change the results one iota: her blood sample did indeed conclusively prove that she had passed the mid-point in her transformation into a youkai. That being the case, returning to a life as a human was no longer an option, nor was suppressing any further changes worth exploring so all that was left was accepting her newfound circumstances as a kiyohime. Every morning when she undressed to shower or take a bath she inspected her body for new changes that deviated from what had been 'normal' prior to Halloween. What she'd noticed since they'd started staying at the shrine was that the scales on her legs had completed their transformation, looking completely like snake scales albeit proportional to her size. From just above her ankles to three quarters of the way up her thigh there were crimson scales on the side and back with golden ones on the front. Her fangs had also seemingly finished forming but in a MINOR improvement she could now retract or extend them at will, though she was still working to master what muscles or whatever were needed for each action. The most troubling change was something that had her keeping her mouth shut more than the fangs had and she had NO idea how to control it.

Her tongue was beginning to stretch further in its length while also getting thinner by a bit and the tip was looking distinctly snake-fork-like.

She hadn't done anything like measure it but it was a safe bet that her licking ability had gone up by at least two hundred percent. More than that, though, she was beginning to 'smell' with her tongue, adding a whole new level of sensitivity that she became aware of whenever she exposed it to the open air. However it was not the same as 'smelling' through her nose, it didn't register in her brain the same way, sometimes throwing her when particularly potent particles hit her tongue.

All in all she didn't like it and finally she understood perfectly how Buffy'd felt when her Calling had been forced into her lap a year before coming to Sunnydale. Having to deal with new abilities and senses that were not there before while trying to continue on with the life that had been forming for years. Only in her case she wouldn't be able to hide her 'gifts' in plain sight quite as easily since, without a glamor to conceal the physical manifestations, you'd need to be blind to miss them. The myths about kiyohime implied at being able to shape shift between a full snake form and a near human form that only a discerning eye could spot the anomalies in. She'd tried to tap into this metamorphic ability using willpower and concentration but either she didn't possess that ability or every time she opened her eyes to check to see if it worked her control slipped, causing everything to revert. She'd keep trying until she got something more definitive but until then leaving the shrine to shop was not even up for consideration.

When she'd woken up this morning she'd decided that the time had come to talk with Xander to find out what they'd be doing with their lives from here on out. To her the logical move would be to return to Sunnydale to resume their support positions behind Buffy while continuing to find not only a new place for the both of them to live as well as a source of employment. The latter she wasn't too worried about since there were any number of people who'd be willing to pay good money for the computer skills she had to offer. Best of all most of the people that she'd work for wouldn't particularly care what she looked like or how old she was so long as she produced quality results. True, those that didn't ask for background information or verifiable paperwork were shady, with less than honorable uses for what she'd be handing them, but she didn't see trustworthy employers accepting her 'shyness'.

Basically there was too much paperwork and too many times when she'd be required to show her face in 'honest work' for it to be a valid option.

As for Xander, she supposed that he could follow up on a past suggestion he'd made a few months prior about looting demon lairs and mugging vamps before staking them. While not consistent in the amount of money it could bring in, she couldn't think of any other job that her best friend could take on that didn't require being around people. If it turned out that she had to earn the bulk of their income, she was fine with that.

However, just minutes prior, she'd told him this only for him to tell her that he intended to travel back to the Sengoku Jidai era of Japan with InuYasha and Kagome.

"I asked Ginzo-san to do some research for me. According to him the only big battle that involved youkai that might fit what the wolf youkai blabbed about would be the Shimabara Rebellion. It was the last large scale conflict in recorded history before the Tokugawa Shogunate tightened things up and kept the peace until the Bakamatsu," Xander replied calmly, as though he refused to get excited over this. "He also confirmed through people who specialize in learning youkai history that large number of youkai fought against the Shogunate but were decimated in the deciding battle. It started in sixteen thirty-seven and ended the next year. I've asked InuYasha a few questions and I'm pretty sure the well is connected around fifteen fifty, give or take a few years. I figure I go back, spend the time between years training and gathering info, and then when the Rebellion happens I step in to keep the youkai from being massacred."

"You really think it's gonna be that easy?!" she asked, still feeling incredulous at her best friend's plan.

"Probably not but eighty-seven years is time enough to make a few allies and what I can't do alone I'll probably be able to do with others," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "Plus with that time I can train myself up to be a badass with a blade and get a grip on my youkai powers."

"You're assuming you won't grow old and die before then," she pointed out, straining to find some flaw in his idea.

"According to both Ginzo-san and InuYasha youkai live for a pretty long time, centuries can go by but only a year or two'll show up physically, so seeing as how I'm almost full youkai now I'd say I'll still be in fighting shape by the time the Rebellion starts," he said, not really worried about the decades he'd be living through.

"What about Buffy?! What about Sunnydale!?" she asked, more and more angry that her friend was dead set on his course of action.

"That won't be a problem," he replied, not sounding worried in the least. "See, I figure if youkai can live centuries without getting old and senile then all I need to do is make sure I survive until the day after I jump through the well. Then I'll stroll back to Sunnydale just in time for a Scooby grand reunion and put a planet sized fright into the local vamp and demon population."

"Assuming you don't get yourself slayed before then," she said, putting her resolve face on in a last ditch effort to get him to forget about his plan and the wolf youkai's accusation.

"C'mon! It's me!" he said, sounding like he had utter confidence in himself. "I've survived over a year fighting side-by-side with the Slayer. Plus it's not like I'm going to go looking for trouble."

"No you won't go looking for trouble but it'll find you anyways," she said with exasperation, realizing that this was one of those rare times when she wouldn't be able to talk sense into him. "Fine! Then I'm coming too!"

"What?!" he exclaimed, honestly looking like he expected them to part company with her staying in the present.

"You don't really think I'm going to let you go back alone do you?" she asked rhetorically, as though it was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. "Trouble finds you whether you want it or not and let's not forget Miss French and Ampata. Knowing you you'll wind up pissing off an army of cat youaki because you turned down their princess' offer of marriage and be running for your life for a MONTH. The only way you're going to live long enough to see Buffy again is if I come along and keep you out of trouble."

She could tell that he was trying to come up with a reason for her to stay behind but was coming up blank for one that wouldn't venture into hypocrite territory.

"Now let's talk with Miss Higurashi to see if she'd be willing to buy a few things for us since we obviously can't go shopping ourselves," she said as she turned towards the stairs leading downstairs. "We'll need a backpack for camping equipment, clothes and food for sure. OH! And we'll need two maps of Japan, one that shows what it was like during the Sengoku jidai and a current one, plus a chart showing the clan symbols and who they were allied with."

Her mind was awhirl with thoughts on what they'd need to get or do before jumping through the well but that didn't mean she missed the hint of regret on Xander's face. No doubt he was blaming himself for pulling her into the past but eventually he'd realize that being best friends meant sticking together no matter what.

Besides, he had a point about being much more prepared to help Buffy after a couple of centuries to rise in experience and power, so it wasn't ENTIRELY a bad idea.

Like most of his homework assignments, it just needed a little touch up in places.

And that was her department.


	4. Change of Scenery, Same Luck

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy my stories. Therefore I would appreciate it if I wasn't dragged into court over this. I can assure you that I am in no way rich and whatever you get from me probably won't cover a tenth of your legal fees.

 _ **The Courtyard of the Higurashi Shrine**_

 _ **Two Days Later**_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Gee, Willow! Do you think we have EVERYTHING we need?" he asked with a bit of sarcasm as he looked at the backpacks that'd been filled to capacity AND had a few extra's tied on top.

"Hey! I'm going to have carry just as much as you, so quit whining," Willow said as she seemed to be going over a mental list to make sure they had everything. "I kept the list as small as I could but if we're going to go from twentieth century living to a place where indoor plumbing is still a work in progress, there are some things we'd be idiots to go without."

He had to admit that his best bud had a point.

Both of them had been born and raised taking the middle class comforts of the twentieth century for granted, so it was definitely going to be one helluva adjustment living in a different time period. From what he'd learned from Kagome and InuYasha, they usually either camped out or managed to stay in a village they came across during the course of their quest to find jewel shards or kill Naraku. That meant that when they needed to bathe they either jumped into a lake or filled a wooden tub with hot water. If they needed to use the washroom they went off in the bushes or went to something that'd make the outhouses at a modern camp look state of the art. He imagined that it'd be the equivalent of a hole in the ground with a basic wooden structure erected over it to afford users privacy but without any add ons. Plus, while he, Willow and Kagome would be bringing food with them through the well, it wouldn't last forever, so he presumed that that meant that they'd have to catch their meals afterwards. He had some experience fishing but actually hunting a furry animal for the purposes of eating it… not so much.

All in all it wasn't something he believed he'd enjoy but he couldn't wimp out on his chosen course of action.

Lives depended on him.

Grabbing the straps of his backpack he lifted it off the ground and slung it over one shoulder before watching Willow loop her arms around the straps of her backpack before putting the weight on her back. Naturally, since he was guy, most of the heavy stuff had been put into his backpack while Willow had gotten the items that weighed the least but, surprisingly enough, he didn't have to exert himself as much as he'd thought he would have to. He hadn't really been paying attention, much less consciously tested himself, but it made a logical sense that it was his growing youkai-ness that was responsible for his increase in strength. How strong would he become? Would he become strong enough to lift a boulder over his head without too much trouble? He had no way of knowing except trial and error, as well as firsthand experience.

Once everyone was ready they made their way to the building that had been erected around what Ginzo-san called the Bone Eater's Well. According to the old man it'd been used in the past as a method of disposal for any youkai corpses that were the result of attacks on the locals. Once tossed in, the corpses disappeared on their own over time but not because of something as simple as natural decomposition. When he was inside the building he couldn't sense anything supernatural or Hellmouthy but that didn't exactly count for much. When you live on top of a Hellmouth it stinks like the foulest landfill on the planet, so it'd take something pretty nasty to be noticed amidst all that so, by relocating someplace else, it'd be possible for something less impressive to slip past his senses.

"I'll have to take each of you one at a time since only me and InuYasha can go through the well on our own," Kagome said as she stepped up onto the edge of the well. "Who's first?"

When Willow didn't immediately volunteer he did a mental shrug before stepping forward and getting on the edge with the Japanese girl. Taking hold of her hand they leapt into the well seconds later and, just before he would've expected them to touch down on the bottom, the world faded away, only to be replaced with an environment completely filled with stars. It was positively dazzling to see but, before he could enjoy it too much, another environment faded into existence, but it was decidedly different from what'd been there before. He once again found himself in a wall but instead of it being filled with darkness lacking any form of life, vines reached down from above as well as sunlight. Looking up he saw nothing but bare sky above him where before there had been a wooden roof and, with an experimental sniff of the air, he could tell it was fresher than just about anything he'd ever smelled before.

Seeing Kagome begin to climb up the side of the well, he presumed she was doing this because a certain degree of acceleration was needed in order to initiate the transfer between time periods. That was his guess, anyway, since he wasn't even an amateur when it came to mystical cross time wells, but until he had information to the contrary that'd be the way he'd go. Deciding to follow her up before something embarrassing happened like, say, accidentally getting a peek at Kagome's panties like some clichéd scene from an anime.

Using the vines that protruded from the side of the well he climbed up, wondering what Japan was like during the Sengoku jidai besides the obvious. He knew from the title that it'd involve every feudal lord with a decent sized territory either trying to unite Japan under themselves or allying themselves with someone more likely to accomplish such a goal. He'd also heard both Kagome and InuYasha talk about some of the demons they'd encountered, not to mention the Big Bad himself, Naraku. He didn't think that they'd have to worry about the former all that much so long as they didn't directly confront or provoke the leaders in charge of the various armies. As for the latter, they'd be unavoidable so long as he travelled with Kagome and her friends since there would always be those who'd seek power and there would always be those who'd use that power for their own sick bit of fun.

That was not to say that he thought the youkai would stop attacking humans entirely once the Shikon no Tama vanished, but at least they wouldn't be powered up to absurd levels.

As he came over the top of the well he found, much to his surprise, that they had a welcoming committee waiting for them and, when he looked at Kagome, he could tell by the look on her face she hadn't been expecting it either. There was a young man dressed in clothes consistent with a monk, a woman that looked to be of the same age, a little kid that, upon further inspection, was a youkai of some kind, humanoid raccoon youkai and lastly a two tailed cat that embodied CUTE. However it seemed a little odd that they appeared to have been waiting for quite some time. The monk was reading a book, the kid youkai was playing some sort of card game and the young woman looked like she was polishing or cleaning something. None of that was what a normal person would do if they'd just arrived but rather the behavior of someone who'd been waiting for at least an hour or so.

"Kagome!" the youkai kid said, sounding like he was glad to see the young woman.

"So you've returned," the monk said before turning a page of his book.

"You could've stayed away longer," the young woman said, not pausing in her efforts.

The yawn from the raccoon youkai pretty much sealed the 'everything is BORING here' atmosphere the group was trying to project.

Not the usual welcoming atmosphere AT ALL.

"Gee, Kagome, you can really feel the love here," he said with a bit of sarcasm as he cleared the top of the well and stepped down onto grass covered ground.

This caused all the waiters to look up from what they were doing in surprise, no doubt because they hadn't expected anyone but InuYasha to be coming through with Kagome. Deciding to put his best foot forward with the group, he brought out his trademark pending lopsided grin but it didn't quite have the 'put a person at ease' it usually did.

"Who's this, Kagome?" the young woman polisher asked with lingering surprise and curiosity.

"This is Xander. He and his friend Willow have some… business here in the past, so they're going to be travelling with us for a while," Kagome replied, sounding a little puzzled at the laid back behavior of her friends.

"While it's always nice to gain new friends, now might not be the best time," the monk said as he closed his book before setting it down on the ground.

"What do you mean?" he asked, wondering what would make a group of adventurers want to keep newbies away for a while.

"It'd probably be best to wait until InuYasha gets here before we go too deep into details," the young woman replied, sounding polite but restrained. "Basically, though, we have a panther youkai problem and they're looking for both Kagome and the jewel shards."

 _I'm beginning to think that Willow's right,_ he thought with some exasperation. _Trouble does know where to find me no matter where I go._

Some people might find a measure of comfort in this kind of consistency.

Not him.

 _ **A Clearing Near the Bone Eater's Well**_

 _ **Willow's POV**_

"Cat youkai?" she asked as she stood across from Kagome's friends.

"I remember! Something like this happened fifty years ago, too," Hachi the Raccoon Dog Youkai replied with an undercurrent of fear.

"Fifty years ago?" InuYasha asked, sounding like he didn't quite believe what he was being told.

"Cats attacked from the West," Hachi said, elaborating on the knowledge he'd provided thus far.

"Never heard of that," InuYasha said with cynical disbelief. "Are you sure about this?"

 _Definitely someone who's putting a lot of effort into looking like a badass,_ she thought, concerning InuYasha's personality and behavior. _Still, I guess being a hanyou means you gotta have pretty decent bluffing skills when something powerful comes along._

Either that or the hanyou really did think he was a badass and that made her think that he got his butt handed to him quite often.

"InuYasha… Maybe this incident occurred while you were under Kikyo's seal?" Miroku asked or suggested tentatively from his cross-legged position on the ground.

"Huh. Well then, there's no way I'd know," InuYasha replied, paying only marginally more attention to the discussion then before.

"I never heard of such a thing either," Shippo the kid kitsune youkai said, throwing in his two yen.

No one bothered to point out that the kid likely hadn't even been alive back then, so of course he wouldn't have known about a past invasion by youkai from China.

"That's 'cause you're just a kid!" InuYasha pointed out mockingly as he looked at fox legged kid.

 _Well ALMOST no one,_ she thought with a shake of her head as Shippo leapt at the hanyou in retaliation. _Why do I get the feeling no one EVER taught InuYasha the meaning of the word tact or sensitivity?_

Sure, just about all guys had problems knowing what to say and what not to say, but she was proud to say that, thanks to her due diligence, Xander's brain to mouth filter failed a full fifty percent less than your average male. It'd taken almost every day since they'd met to pull it off but she was proud of her accomplishment and decided right then that she'd pass on a few tips to Kagome that might work on InuYasha.

"What happened at that time?" Kagome asked, putting the discussion back on track.

"I took off while I could," Hachi replied, looking like he was thankful that he'd managed to do so.

"You would!" Miroku snarked, sounding like it was no surprise to him that the raccoon dog youkai would choose to flee at the first sign of trouble.

Not a bad course of action because, just looking at the youkai, she didn't see ANYTHING that made her think he'd be a force to be respected in battle.

"I returned after I heard that the cats had gone back to the West," Hachi said as he likely thought about doing the same this time around. "And sure enough, the cats were all gone."

"Why?" InuYasha asked, sounding mildly curious about whatever had send the invading army into full retreat.

It was a good question since knowing might help them manage to pull off a repeat of that same victory.

"Well… I don't know anything more…" Hachi said, sounding a little sorry that he didn't have more in the way of useful information to share.

"I see…" spoke an unfamiliar voice that her mind told her came from someone outside of the group, "…you ARE strangely dressed for a priestess."

At once everyone was on their feet and ready for a fight should one break out… everyone except her, that was. When they'd left Sunnydale neither she or Xander had thought that there'd be any fighting involved so, aside from Nenekimimaru they hadn't brought any weapons. That was something she'd definitely have to change, assuming they all lived through this encounter.

"Cat! CAT?! Shut up, you little fox pup!" the pointy eared girl with the wild hair snapped, her arms crossed under her chest.

"Whaddya want?" InuYasha asked as he stood up off the side of the well that he'd been using as a seat.

"We have no business with you," Lady Red said dismissively before pointing right at Kagome. "We want that priestess with the Sacred Jewel shards."

"If you want the shards, you'll have to go through me!" InuYasha growled as he physically placed himself between the two newcomers and Kagome.

She watched as Xander took up a similar posture between her and the hostile youkai, causing her both irritation as well as a little bit of comfort at the same time. It pleased her because seeing him act protective towards her was one of the more obvious signs that he cared for her enough to put his own life on the line. It wasn't exactly the declaration of love she'd been hoping for since she started noticing boys romantically but it was still something she valued. She was irritated, though, because without her computer or Giles' books she was all but useless, defenseless in the current situation. Sure, she recalled how her costume had spewed fire from her mouth and somehow extended her nails into talons to tear into Spike's group but she hadn't tried to do any of that since that night. First it'd been due to denial but then she refrained because she didn't want to risk accelerating the changes her body was undergoing. Now, when skill with such abilities could be useful, she couldn't use them and this irritated her.

"Hmph! A hanyou!" the guy the size of a football player said with contempt.

"So? What of it?" InuYasha asked with hostility, since his half-demon status was a bit of a sore spot for him obviously.

"Are you InuYasha?" Lady Red asked with a bit of interest.

"Huh?" InuYasha asked, looking a bit thrown by the question.

"You know her?" Miroku asked, sounding like he was fishing for more information.

She supposed he'd have to have some kind of smarts in order to be a decent monk.

"I don't know her!" InuYasha denied, sounding like he was being honest with his response.

"You're InuYasha? Sesshomaru's kid brother?" Lady Red asked, making it sound like the name in the second question was the important part.

"Well… I don't think of him as much of a brother," InuYasha replied with a bit of contempt towards his older brother as he made a show of cracking the knuckles of his clawed right hand.

"I'll take on InuYasha," Lady Red said to her big friend without looking back at him. "Shuran, you can handle the rest of them."

"Gotcha!" Shuran yelled before charging towards his prey.

Watching as the battle became joined, she could see that these youkai, obviously the cat demons from China that they'd been talking about, had more than just their sharp teeth and claws to use against them. The redheaded one could generate fire and she'd lay good odds that Shuran probably possessed an elemental ability of his own, or at least above average superhuman strength. As she watched Sango and Miroku leap out of the way of the big guy's attack, her confidence in the duo's ability to handle him rose since the old constant of large being slow seemed to be present.

However when she turned to see what Xander would do, she was surprised to see him turning away from the battle, Nenekimimaru drawn and ready to strike.

"Xander! What're you doing?!" she asked incredulously at his actions. "The fight's over this way!"

"Maybe but trouble's gonna come from this direction," Xander said, sounding dead certain about what he was doing. "Those two didn't come to Japan alone, not if they plan on doing anything big while they're here, and if they want Kagome and the jewel shards why come at us with just two? Why not a dozen? Two dozen? Why fight us at all? They could just as easily follow us on the road and wait for a chance to grab both when no one else is around. No… the fight's a distraction."

When she actually took a moment to go down her best friend's line of reasoning, she had to admit that, if the cat youkai from China were making another go of conquering Japan, they'd definitely have sent more than two of their own across the water. Challenging InuYasha, Sango and Miroku to what looked to her to be a more or less even fight also didn't make sense if the jewel shards really were a priority. Stealing them or overpowering the forces protecting them with sheer numbers would be the surest way to accomplish the objective quickly and effectively. The only reason she could come up with for why they weren't going with either of those options was that perhaps they possessed some code of honor that prohibited them from gaining their prizes in such a manner.

Since she'd never met a demon who lived by any kind of respectable code of honor and the attackers seemed to be severely lacking in the respect department, she doubted they knew what honor was.

She was proven right a moment later when cherry blossom petals fluttered past her field of vision and she began to feel tired. As she dropped to the ground, her eyes drooping towards closure, she had only time enough to think one final thing.

 _Why is Xander still standing?_

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Why aren't you ASLEEP!?" the female flower youkai asked, clearly surprised that he wasn't catching Zs alongside Kagome, Kirara and Willow.

Truth be told he was more than a little confused himself but fortunately he'd been quick enough to keep this little fact from showing up on his face. Instead he rested the blunt side of Nenekimimaru on his shoulder, trying to affect a posture of complete ease rather than anxiety he actually felt. He'd fight if he needed to but, if he could stall this one until InuYasha, Sango or Miroku finished their fight, then he'd take that too.

"Why should I sleep?" he asked rhetorically as he tried to emulate how Nurarihyon spoke back during his prime. "I got a good night's sleep last night and I'm not the least bit tired."

"My powers should've dropped you just like the other two!" Flower-chan snapped, likely thinking that he was completely dismissing and ignoring her abilities.

"You mean these cherry blossom petals?" he asked before plucking one of them out of the air with his free hand. "They're rather pretty but haven't got much else going for them."

Tossing aside the captured petal as though it were nothing, he could see her anger go up a notch so he brought Nenekimimaru into a ready position he felt most confident in.

"Then again perhaps you'd like to prove me wrong," he said as the memories of what he'd done on Halloween came forward. "If that's the case, let's begin round two."

Like many of the abilities or skills he'd gained on Halloween night, he hadn't practiced them nearly enough to be comfortable with them in a fight. However in the current situation he couldn't afford to hesitate to use anything that'd increase the odds of all the good guys walking away from this encounter in once piece. Thus he reached for the power inside himself that'd helped Nurarihyon save Cordy from whoever had been turned into Big Foot and, when he thought he had a strong enough grip, he directed it at Flower-chan with the sharpest glare that he could muster while doing his best to calm his heart and make it clear of everything. He could see her take a step back, startled, but he waited a few more minutes before he began to advance on her. The memories of the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan were quite clear about this since stepping at a certain pace helped add to the fear you inspired in your target.

"Frightening, isn't it? To be unable to perceive your opponent clearly with your senses," he said, hoping that he had truly vanished from Flower-chan's sight like Nurarihyon could. "Shin Meikyō Shisui."

The power he was using was wriggling in his grasp like a slippery snake and keeping his grip was taking quite a bit of his focus. Nevertheless he needed this power if he was to get close enough to use Nenenkimimaru on her without getting a second dosage of her powers. He honestly didn't know how he'd resisted the first but, if it turned out the initial assault was just a mild version of her power, it stood to reason if she brought the full measure of her power to bear he would not escape unscathed. Yet he did not hurry his step, did not let the tension get to him, but even with his best efforts chaos would have its say in matters no matter what.

A yowl of a cat startled him briefly as feline youkai leapt at him, claws and teeth bared.

This broke his focus and the power slipped from his mental grasp and instantly the look of fear on Flower-chan's face vanished. She could see him now, he was sure of it, but with the minion cat youkai almost in striking range he couldn't afford to think about her at the moment. Half with instinct and half with the practice he'd done at the Higurashi Shrine he evaded the claw swipe of the cat, dove under the enemy's guard and executed a horizontal slash. His anxiety settled as he felt the blade part flesh and draw blood but it wasn't until he watched the cat youkai crumble into nothingness that he stopped considering it a threat.

"You have some pretty loyal minions," he said conversationally in order to buy time for him to reacquire his inner power. "Throwing themselves on my blade just to keep it from you for a few moments longer? How many can you afford to spare before you're invasion of Japan is a failure? Ten? A hundred? A thousand? Shall we find out?"

"You really think you can defeat us all, you damn kitsune!?" Flower-chan yelled, clearly furious at his words and the loss of a comrade.

Good. Be they human, youkai or demon, every warrior got sloppy when their anger level got too high.

"Who knows? It'll be interesting to find out, one way or another," he said with a lopsided smile.

Just then his instincts flared and he dove to the side into a roll, coming back to his feet in time to bring Nenekimimaru up into an instinctive guard position. His eyes quickly registered the displaced dirt and grass that resulted from Shuran's fist slamming into the ground where he'd been. He couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief as he realized just how close he'd come to getting his face planted in the ground. Rising from his crouched position, he knew he wouldn't be able to win now. When it was just him and Flower-chan, he had a chance since it was one-on-one but with Shuran backing her up, he was out of his depth.

"Stop fooling around with the kitsune, Shunran," Shuran said with some irritation. "Don't forget why we're here in the first place."

"I KNOW why we're here, Shuran!" Shunran snapped before cooling down emotionally. "Flatten these fools so we can be on our way."

"I was planning to," Shuran said before he raised his arms above his head and electricity began to crackle over his form, growing ever more violent as the seconds passed.

"SHIT!" he said as he realized what the discharge was going to be like at the rate the power was being gathered.

He got about ten steps before all the gathered energy was released, knocking him both to the ground as well as for a loop mentally. It was instinct that allowed him to retain a grip on Nenekimimaru but it was his will that worked to clear the fog from his mind so he could act once more. He believed that it was only a few seconds that he lost his understanding of what was going on around him but that was time enough apparently for Shuran to grab Kagome and regroup with the other two.

"She has the Sacred Jewel shards, all right," Shuran said with a chuckle of satisfaction, believing his mission to be accomplished.

"Kagome!" InuYasha cried out in a way that, for him, was a little too dramatic, but did confirm his suspicions that he had feelings for the schoolgirl.

"Hmmmm…. she seems pretty dear to you," Lady Red said with malicious interest.

"Let… Kagome go!" InuYasha demanded even as he forced his body to work despite still getting over the electric attack.

"Then come to our castle…" Lady Red said daringly from her position, "…And get her. We'll be waiting, InuYasha."

With that the trio went all weird as they moved away without their legs doing a thing to cause the retreat. Was it an illusion of some kind? A spell they had ready so that they could make a quick getaway once they had what they wanted? In the end it didn't really matter since it meant that the cat youkai had Kagome and the Sacred Jewel shards, neither of which could be allowed to remain in their possession. Watching InuYasha run after them only to be delayed by a bunch of cannon fodder cat youkai, he decided to move to see how Willow was doing before assuming the role of backup.

If it turned out that she was fine then he'd move immediately to reinforce InuYasha.

If she was hurt, though, he'd use the med-kit to tend to her wounds and THEN he'd join the pursuit and be less than merciful to any cat youkai that got in his way.

NO ONE hurt one of his GIRLS!

 _ **InuYasha's POV**_

"Where?! Where'd they go?" he asked as he ran in the direction he'd seen those three damn cat youkai go.

"Calm down, InuYasha," Shippo cautioned from his position on the right shoulder. "The forest reeks with the smell of the cats."

Taking a few experimental sniffs, he had to agree with the brat that there was no trouble in picking up the scent of the youkai he was after. Coming to a stop for a moment, he sniffed in three different directions before breaking into a run again in the direction where the stink was strongest. He had to hurry. The cats had what they wanted with the Shikkon jewel shards but Kagome was just bait and, in this case, they didn't need to keep the bait alive after they'd arrived at their lair. He had to get Kagome back before they got there. He HAD to!

Hearing the sounds of feet rapidly moving through grass, he looked over his shoulder to find Xander running up to him. He didn't know what to think of the human-turned-kitsune-youkai but at least he was more helpful than Shippo in a fight. He didn't know what kind of trick was used on that one cat youkai but it'd been effective right up until Xander had gotten attacked from behind by Shuran. Somehow the big cat had gotten clear of Sango and Miroku and attacked the newbie youkai before he could get close enough to cut the girl to pieces but that was more carelessness than the ineffectiveness of the trick.

"You find which way they went yet?" Xander asked once the kid fell into stride alongside him.

"Of course!" he replied, as though it was only natural that he'd be able to track those cats down. "This way!"

On a whim he upped the speed he was running to see if the kid could keep up with him and was satisfied to find out that Xander didn't seem to have any trouble increasing his speed to match. Just how fast was the kitsune? He hadn't run into a great many fox youkai during the course of his life and never stuck around long enough to know how strong an adult was. Would Shippo one day become as fast? Maybe. Not any time soon enough to be of help against Naraku, though.

After hearing Kirara's yowl above he didn't even need to look to know that Miroku and Sango had recovered from that muscle head cat youkai's electric assault. Not that he had any doubt because, after fighting alongside them for so long, he knew what his friends were capable of, what they could take in terms of punishment, and so he knew that a wimpy blast like that wouldn't keep them down long.

"Have you found their scent, InuYasha?" Miroku asked from astride Kirara's back.

"Of course I have! What, you think I just picked a direction and started running?" he asked with an even mix of irritation and arrogance.

"Well, you kinda did at first before I told you to try using your nose," Shippo pointed out, causing the irritation he was feeling to gain dominance.

Without hesitation he grabbed the brat and tossed him at Xander, who proved he had good reflexes by successfully catching the little kit rather than dropping him. That was another point in the newbie's favor, speed and reflexes, and it made him think that maybe he wouldn't have to keep an eye on Xander once the fur started flying, along with the blood. What'd happened minutes ago hadn't been a fight, it'd been a kidnapping, but that'd change once they got to the cat youkai's lair because then it'd get all too real. He wasn't too worried because he was sure that Miroku or Sango would keep an eye on the newbie, allowing him to focus his attention on where it needed to be: shredding cats and rescuing Kagome!

Of course that had to be when things took a turn for the worst as a familiar whirlwind came towards him, causing him to growl out of pure reflex due to the mangy wolf that was no doubt inside it. Seeing the spinning wind come to a stop and disperse, his instincts turned out to be right as inside was that lousy okami Koga, acting all cocky as usual.

"Hey, mutt!" Koga yelled from a few dozen yards away. "Where's Kagome?"

 _There he goes again! Claiming Kagome like she was property!_ he thought. "None of your business!"

"I've been picking up the foul scent of cats lately," Koga said, looking like he was in a bad mood, "but today I catch a bit of Kagome's scent, too!"

This would be trouble.

With that fleabag's ridiculous claim on Kagome and how Koga liked to rub his face in the fact that he was hanyou, it looked all but certain that they'd have an unwanted extra in storming the cat youkai's lair.

Still, he had to try to keep it from happening.

"So what?" he asked, as though the mingling of Kagome's scent with the cats meant nothing.

"You mutt! Don't you dare tell me that Kagome's been kidnapped by cats!" Koga yelled angrily, undeterred from coming to his own conclusions.

He wasn't even given five seconds to respond before the idiot okami went back to running his mouth.

"Why you!" Koga yelled, his fists clenched with anger. "She was captured? What were you doing?!"

"Shaddup! You weren't there!" he yelled back even as he sensed Kirara and that useless raccoon dog descend behind him. "They used some dirty tricks!"

"I can't waste any more time with a mutt like you!" Koga declared before turning away. "I'll have to rescue Kagome myself!"

Then, before he could say that the okami's help wasn't needed, the wolf tore off surrounded by his own whirlwind, much to the dismay of the two idiots that usually followed Koga around as well as everyone else present.

"That guy just does NOT listen," Xander said with a little disbelief. "Kagome must look for ways to be elsewhere whenever he comes up over the horizon."

"Keh! I WISH!" he said ruefully as he remembered all of his group's past encounters with the okami. "Instead of telling him to get lost, she's actually NICE to him and wants me to HELP him every time he bites off more than he can chew."

"I will admit that Koga doesn't have the most likeable attitude but even having one more ally against the cat youkai will benefit us," Miroku said from Kirara's back.

"That's right. Besides, we all know Koga goes crazy whenever Kagome's in trouble," Sango said, even lending her support for the wolf. "He'll do whatever it takes to rescue her."

"Not if it means working with us," Xander said, shaking his head. "I know I'm new here but it seems pretty clear he doesn't like InuYasha and that means he'll try to get in the way if dog-boy here takes the lead in rescuing Kagome. No teamwork and an attitude like that's just asking for trouble where Koga's concerned."

FINALLY! After months of being the only one to see Koga as the mangy fleabag that he was, he FINALLY had an ally who saw things the same way he did. His opinion of Xander was just getting better all the time!

"That means we gotta get moving before that fleabag of a wolf messes things up!" he said before breaking into a run once more. "C'mon!"

Focusing the entirety of his mind on the scent of the cats, he poured on the speed ever more to make up for the time they'd lost bothering to speak with the okami.

He'd be the one to rescue Kagome!

 _ **Xander's POV**_

"Well, this isn't too creepy," he said offhand with a bit of humor. "An abandoned village, made by humans, I'm presuming, at night with a full moon overhead. Toss in some youkai, some of which want to rip us into bloody chunks, and we've got the makings of a great horror movie."

"Horror movie?" Shippo asked from his position on his right shoulder.

"Think a story performed by people that's specifically written to scare you," he replied offhand even as he kept his eyes peeled for trouble. "Believe it or not people'll actually pay to feel the rush that comes from being afraid."

To this the young kitsune just shook his head in incomprehension, probably because his young mind couldn't fathom why people would want to feel fear, much less pay to be frightened. Still, he'd enjoyed the odd horror movie growing up, especially when the movie was rated R but he managed to see it anyways. However that was before he found out about Hellmouths, vampires, demons and assorted other things capable of acts that would make anything Hollywood could come up with appear tame to his mind. After the first few months of seeing Sunnydale for what it really was, horror movies became more comical than frightening because he'd seen the real deal firsthand.

Still… he was a bit unnerved by the fact that they'd yet to come upon a single human since they'd walked past the barrier that'd been set up to hide the cat youkai's lair or, rather, the hidden human settlement the cats had commandeered for their own use. Normally when demons wanted to take over territory occupied by humans, they'd either massacre the entire population or only half of it while keeping the rest around as playthings for their own horrific games. Yet, no matter where he looked, he didn't see a single body, severed limb, splash of blood or decapitated head to support what normally happened when humans and demons collided. So either this town had long been abandoned when the cats came along, or the Chinese youkai went to great lengths to take the humans alive, as well as relatively unhurt.

That meant they were saving them for someone with a BIG appetite or needed them for a sacrificial ritual of some kind.

That's what his time in the Scoobies was telling him, anyway.

"People definitely lived here recently," Miroku said as he emerged from one of the houses lining the street they were walking down. "There's fresh vegetables that haven't even begun to rot. That means that whatever happened here had to have happened less than a week ago."

That was encouraging.

If less than a week had gone by since the cats had moved in, there was still a chance that some of the humans who made this castle town were still alive. However, before he could think on the matter further, heralded by their mewing, the cat demons showed up atop the roofs of the surrounding buildings. Not the almost human looking ones but rather the more cat-people shaped ones that were basically the expendable infantry of the cat youkai invasion. Unsheathing Nenekirimaru and bringing it to bear, he was optimistic about the group's odds of getting out of this ambush since, if the one he'd slain earlier in the day was any hint, these minions weren't anything special.

Then, of course, the cat youkai he'd labeled Lady Red showed up and seized InuYasha's complete attention.

He was suddenly only half as optimistic.

"Stick close to me, Shippo!" he ordered as the first waves of the cats attacked.

From what he could tell the felines were either unarmed, armed with sticks or sickles, so he judged their threat level to be moderate at best. Ducking under the swing of one cat wielding a baseball bat-sized stick he lashed out with his blade but only succeeded in forcing the furball back as it evaded the deadly metal. Deciding to go on the offensive this time he surged forward, parrying aside the youkai's weapon before throwing a punch that had as much strength as he could muster in it. THIS attack managed to hit its mark, slamming into the youkai's jaw like he'd intended and, while the cat didn't go flying like he'd hoped, it still got knocked on its furry behind just the same. Charging in, he thrust the blade of Nenekirimaru into the feline's heart, assuming it was in the same place as the human heart, watching only long enough to confirm that the enemy was finished before moving on.

"Xander!" Shippo exclaimed in his ear with fear.

Whipping around, he brought up his blade in a guard position, just managing to prevent the pointy end of the sickle from piercing his forehead and killing him. The locked weapons shook as the strength of him and the cat looked to be about equal but he wasn't about to get pinned down so a friend of the furball's could finish him off. Lashing out with a kick, he managed to knock his foe to the side and then, before the feline could recover, he darted in, executing a quick slash. He managed a shallow cut but not enough to be life threatening, though at least the cat had the sense to back off when it felt its energy leaking out of the wound. He was about to consider pursuit when without warning the cats began to retreat in full, going for gaps between the houses or hopping across rooftops.

This did not sit well with him. They had the group outnumbered and one of their commanding officers was present. Retreat shouldn't have been an option until their numbers had been cut by at least half but that hadn't been the case as far as he could tell.

Too bad InuYasha didn't seem to care since he was hot on the trail of Lady Red.

"You guys do know they're probably leading us into a trap, right?" he asked, hoping that neither Sango or Miroku would blindly follow InuYasha's lead.

"Probably, but we can't just let him walk into it alone," Miroku replied with a sigh before going after the aggressive youkai.

"If something happened to him, our chances of getting out of here, never mind rescuing Kagome, would drop significantly," Sango said as Kirara took to the air in the direction InuYasha had gone.

They were right.

He hated it but they were right.

They'd need all the able bodied fighters on their side that they could get and even losing one to a boneheaded move like walking into what had to be a trap would hurt their chances of victory, not to mention survival. Still, he saw no point to being a complete idiot, so he counted to ten and then followed the rest of the group, taking a different route through the streets and alleys of the village but still heading in the same basic direction.

"What're you doing? They're all going that way!" Shippo exclaimed while pointing in the precise direction the others had gone.

"Yes, they are, and so are we just not the same route," he said even as he continued to take a more roundabout route to the same destination as the others. "When the cats think they've got us all trapped, we'll show'em differently."

"Right!" Shippo declared enthusiastically from the shoulder, having caught onto the plan.

It took a few more twists and turns but eventually he managed to reach the site of the cat's ambush but only barely managed to keep from being spotted by the enemy by ducking behind a stack of wooden boxes. Using the universal 'sshhh' gesture on Shippo, he carefully peeked around the stack and saw several cat youaki ready to fight but thankfully they were facing the other way. Likely whenever they sprung their trap on InuYasha they'd leap over the building they were facing and attack with their claws or weapons. He knew he could spoil their plan but the timing had to be perfect so he waited and he listened.

"You're so impatient," Lady Red said even though he couldn't see her. "Breaking the barrier and entering like that."

 _Cue the clichéd villain dialogue,_ he thought with a roll of his eyes at the predictability of it all.

"Hey! Where's Kagome?!" InuYasha yelled with impatience in his voice.

"She's fine so far," Lady Red replied nonchalantly. "When the moon is straight above us, though, we plan on sacrificing her to the Master. You'll be joining her, of course."

 _NOW!_ He darted around his cover, Nenekirimaru ready to draw blood.

The cats he'd spotted earlier heard his footsteps but, by the time they turned to face him, it was too late. With two arcs of shining sharp steel he cut through their throats, leaving them for dead. Leaping up to the roof he was fortunate to find himself on the same roof as Lady Red, who was only a little further along in reacting to his presence than the previous two cat youkai had been moments before. As a result, instead of scoring a fatal blow against her, he only managed to open up her left forearm a couple of inches before she managed to put some distance between the two of them. He wanted to close the gap and hopefully draw enemy fire away from the others so that they could get clear of the trap but there were several problems with that.

Those being several POINTY problems in the form of barbed spears being thrown at him, as a matter of fact.

Fortunately he only needed to dodge them for a few seconds before the others took advantage of the opening he'd given them.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango declared before the giant boomerang spun through the air, cleaving either spears or cat youkai as it went.

When he saw Lady Red throw a fireball at him he quickly brought up Nenekirimaru to block it and as a result only got slightly singed rather than seriously burnt.

"This is the second time you've gotten in our way!" Lady Red growled as she continued her pyro-kinetic assault. "I'm gonna burn you to ASHES for that!"

"You're welcome to try!" he said as he only blocked the fireballs he couldn't evade.

Things were going pretty smoothly but then someone else decided to crash the party and thought that turning one of the buildings into kindling was just the right amount of fanfare. It took a while for the smoke and dirt to clear from the air but when it did the newcomer made him wonder what someone so obviously high class could be doing here. Long white hair, crescent moon on the forehead, twin purple slash marks on each cheek, pointy ears, dressed in high feudal lord fashion and clad ready for battle.

Definitely someone he didn't want as an enemy until he had AT LEAST fifty years of battle experience under his belt and some kind of backup.

"Sesshomaru!" InuYasha growled with discontent at the new arrival.

 _Sesshomaru? Isn't that his older brother?_ He looked back and forth between the two. _Not seeing much of a family resemblance aside from the hair._

"What's going on, Karan?" Sesshomaru asked Lady Red, apparently named Karan. "I'm the one you have business with."

 _Definitely someone who takes the cold and aloof approach to being an aristocrat,_ he thought with a slight shiver.

"So the big brother appears," Karan said, trying to regain some of her former poise from before his little 'love cut'. "Nothing could be better with the two of you. Hey, sons of the Great Dog-Demon, we'll be waiting at the castle!"

She gave him an especially vicious glare before taking off with the rest of her surviving subordinates following close behind. He got the distinct feeling that, while he wasn't at the top of the list like InuYasha and Sesshomaru, he'd still managed to earn himself a spot on her 'someone to kill list'. Personally he'd prefer to get onto a woman's 'someone to screw' list but at least with Karan's list he wouldn't be dismissed as someone unworthy of being noticed.

Sheathing Nenekirimaru for the time being, he turned to watch the brotherly interaction to see if they had a new problem on their hands or a tentative ally.

 _ **Sesshomaru's POV**_

"Sesshomaru, why're you here?" InuYasha asked with hostility and the Tetsusaiga pointed in his direction.

Foolish.

In all their encounters never once had his half-brother achieved a decisive victory against him, with the closest one being owed more to surprise than skill. Yet still the half-breed thought he could freely point a blade in his direction.

"I could ask the same of you. Leave," he said with the aloofness of one who stood at the peak of youkai power.

"W-what?!" InuYasha asked, clearly incredulous in response to the order.

He did not know how he could make the statement any simpler but, then again, the mutt before him had never been especially smart.

"I won't have you getting involved in this war!" he replied, letting a chill lace his words.

"I don't need your permission!" InuYasha growled, clearly unwilling to defer to the judgment of someone who was clearly his superior. "Kagome's been kidnapped by those cats!"

"Fool," he said as he registered and dismissed his half-brother's reason in the same moment.

If he did not neutralize InuYasha, the half-breed would almost certainly get in the way of the conflict between himself and the cat youkai of the West. The idiot possessed only the bare minimum of skill and none of the strategic aptitude needed to be more than a mindless bull knocking over whatever caught his eye. The mere fact that InuYasha had walked willingly into what clearly had been intended as an ambush was proof enough that his sibling would have died had he not arrived on the scene as he had. Yet the fool refused to accept this and so there was only one thing he could do.

With one precise movement he unleashed a ball of bright blue light from the Tokijin at his half-brother, who only just managed to bring the Tetsusaiga up to block it.

It worked for all of one second before the power behind the blow sent the hanyou flying backwards through the wall of one of the human structures. It wouldn't be enough to kill or even render unconscious but it would hopefully drop some common sense into the witless fool's mind.

"W-why, you!" InuYasha growled as he extracted himself from the hole. "Whaddya think you're doing?!"

"Silence, InuYasha!" he snapped, beginning to lose what little patience he had for his sibling. "Remember… you lost your heart to a mortal and ended up sealed away. You have no right to be a part of this battle."

Indeed, due to the ridiculous act of loving an insignificant mortal human, his half-brother had not been available to fight the cat youkai the last time they invaded. It had fallen to him and him alone to repel their invasion, making him the only one to possess the right to face them again in battle and finish them once and for all.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Jakken said as the imp pattered up to him with the Nintojo in hand. "You can't be picky at a time like this!"

Moronic imp.

In response to the very idea that he needed help settling matters with the youkai of the West, he deigned not to reply with words but with actions. Walking in the direction of the castle, he made sure to purposefully step on his servant in order to convey the youkai's standing as well as what he thought of allying with InuYasha.

Before he left the area entirely, though, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the unfamiliar youkai that his keen intellect had deduced as being the one responsible for injuring Karan's arm. Having fought the fire wielder himself, he knew precisely how much skill getting that close required, along with how well someone would have to wield a blade in order to land the blow. This placed the unknown well above his half-brother but that was not hard considering that the fool had never received proper instruction in swordsmanship. His first thought was that the young pup was a kitsune youkai based on the tail, but the coloring was different from what he had personally seen in his travels. Momentarily curious, he took a brief sniff in order to see what his sense of smell could tell him but he was unprepared for what his nose told him.

 _Impossible,_ he thought as he continued towards the final confrontation with the cat youkai of the West. _Nothing remained after the siege. Nothing._

Indeed, it had been one of the few things he had seen to personally, aside from the main conflict with the cat youkai fifty years ago. It had been at the behest of his mother, who'd made arrangements with those who were only slightly inferior to his royal lineage, but when he'd arrived at the land claimed by them, all he had found was death or devastation. It'd been as he'd reflected on how the war had proceeded that he realized that the reinforcements that had sent the lesser youkai scurrying for safety must have been the remainder of the force that had obliterated his mother's associates. He'd performed a cursory inspection of destroyed city, committing to memory anything of note, and then returned to his mother to inform her of what he'd found. She had been most dismayed by the news as it rendered void a few of her more valuable plans.

However she did not surrender to defeat entirely and that was apparently due to the seal he'd discovered at the center of the city.

The seal had been strong, strong enough to keep even him from entering the underground chamber that the stairs behind it no doubt led to, and according to his mother it could only be undone by a very specific bloodline. He had concluded that the seal would remain forever since he had not come across a single survivor of the siege during his exploration of the city. However his mother had stated that if it was true that the bloodline had been eradicated then the seal would have detonated and completely destroyed what it'd been put in place to protect. That it still remained left no doubt in his honorable mother's mind that one of the bloodline remained, if not in Japan then somewhere else in the world.

The last request she asked of him concerning the matter was that if he ever did meet a member of this bloodline to direct that person to their ancestral home.

Though he had only taken in the scent of the dead that day in the mountains, it was still fresh in his memory and just now when he'd taken in the smell of the unknown kitsune, the similarities were great. Nevertheless he could not bring himself to believe that after fifty years, the one who could undo such a potent seal had appeared, much less that the boy had done so in the company of his half-brother. No one who'd willingly associate with such inferior beings could be the one who his mother was waiting for all this time.

 _Ridiculous,_ he thought as he banished the entire train of thought from his mind.

All that should concern him at the moment was ending the incursion by the cat youkai of the west once and for all.

Anything else did not warrant his attention.

 _ **Willow's POV**_

 _Well, close brothers they AIN'T,_ she thought from her place beside Kirara, the twin tailed shape changing, fire cat. _Kinda reminds me of how some of the top jocks usually treated Xander back home._

"Scary!" Shippo gasped as he looked at the departing ice prince with significant fear.

"He was really upset about that," Sango the so-called youkai slayer said, sounding a little surprised herself.

"Did you do something?" Miroku asked, turning to the attitude driven half-youkai.

"How would I know?!" Inuyasha asked, sheathing his magic transforming sword as he approached the rest of the group.

"I dunno. By being observant and actually noticing what's going on around you?" Xander replied as he hopped off the rooftop he'd appeared on.

"Xander!" she exclaimed before slapping him on the forearm.

"What?" he asked, sounding like he thought that nothing was wrong with what he'd said moments ago.

"You barely know anything about InuYasha," she replied, pointing out the obvious. "It's a little too soon to be calling him inobservant and oblivious."

 _Besides, I've clearly had the hots for you since puberty hit and you haven't noticed a thing,_ she thought with a mental frown. _You haven't got great self awareness either._

"Actually he's got it mostly right," Miroku said with a nod.

"Yep," Sango said, nodding in agreement.

"HEY!" InuYasha exclaimed with anger at the insults to his intelligence.

She was afraid for a moment that this would devolve into an argument like the one that sometimes popped up whenever a slight was made against Buffy's intelligence but that did not come to pass. Fortunately it was at that point that the tanuki youkai known as Hachi flew overhead, looking for all the world like a balloon from the Thanksgiving Day parade before transforming a more human looking animal person. Despite the youkai's cowardice, he was surprisingly agile able to roll and then land on the ground with grace, spiking the landing like an experienced gymnast.

"I thought you ran off," Sango said, adding strength to the argument that the being was severely lacking in the courage department.

"I intended to, but…" Hachi said, scratching the back of his head in sheepishness.

The explanation came a moment later when a tiny bug-sized thing leapt from Hachi's head and almost managed to land on her before she clapped her hands, squishing it between her palms. Separating them, she looked closer to see what'd tried to jump at her only to find a bug with the features of an old man dressed in period clothing. Surprisingly enough the thing, a youkai, presumably, wasn't an icky smear on her hand and soon managed to regenerate enough to stand up.

"Who the heck is this?" she asked, unsure if she should try to squish the bug youkai again.

"What're you doing here, Old Man Myoga?" InuYasha asked, walking up to her in order to get a better looking.

"I had a feeling that this mess with the panther tribe has to do with the Great War that happened many hundreds of years ago by your father," Myoga replied, turning to face the hanyou.

"Centuries ago?" InuYasha asked, sounding utterly clueless.

 _Definitely gone to the school of hard knocks rather than anything official,_ she thought with only a little bit of disappointment.

That wasn't too surprising because, based on the light research of the time period she did before they went through the well, people during this time weren't equally educated. Just about every noble and lord could be trusted to be educated in the basics of reading, writing and math but everyone else only knew the stuff relevant to their village role. A farmer knew how to farm, fishermen knew how to fish and religious people knew how to be all religious but not much else. If what she'd learned about hanyou was accurate, then InuYasha more or less had to teach himself everything he knew since no demon would and only the saints among humans would even try. Thus, knowing the history of Japan, specializing in youkai history, was probably way out of the hanyou's reach.

"I thought Hachi said it happened fifty years ago?" Shippo said from where he sat on the ground.

"No,no. Way before that," Myoga replied from the palm of her hand. "When InuYasha's father was still in the Western Province."

"I don't remember anything about it," InuYasha said, sounding a little attentive.

"At that time, the Panther Tribe of cat youkai attacked the West and tried to conquer all other demons," Myoga explained, taking a cross-legged sitting position. "But your father stepped in. The enemy leader was Obaki Neko. Your father protected his comrades and battled this great cat youkai in a clash that made it impossible for lesser warriors to get involved. Naturally, it was your father who was victorious in the end."

"Let me guess: it didn't end there." Xander said, sounding like he had some thoughts bouncing around inside his head.

"No. While the other youkai escaped domination by the Panther Tribe and were extremely grateful, the followers of Obaki Neko fled back to the west. They cursed Inutaisho and his family for all eternity, vowing that they would avenge their fallen leader," Myoga replied, shaking his head in the negative.

"It's kinda like that saying Old Man Higurashi told me about a cat's wrath lasting seven generations," InuYasha said with rough understanding.

"Lord Sesshomaru did not participate in the Great War either," Myoga said, continuing with his explanation, "but I'm sure that the cats aren't planning on leaving him out of their revenge if only because your father is no longer around to seek revenge against."

"And what were you doing at that time?" InuYasha asked with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"Naturally, I watched over things back at his palace in his absence!" Myoga replied forcefully as he jumped up and down to emphasize his position.

"I knew it…" InuYasha said, making it clear that when trouble came calling, the bug youkai found someplace else to be.

"But why was Sesshomaru so adamant about InuYasha leaving?" Miroku asked as he turned with staff in hand.

"HA! He just doesn't want to recognize a hanyou like me," InuYasha replied with angry attitude and a slight lifting of his nose.

"Still… I think it would be noble for the two of you to fight your father's enemy together." Myoga said, voicing his ideal future.

"Not going to happen," Xander said with a shake of his head. "I've seen people back home act to each other like Sesshomaru and InuYasha do. They'd prefer to lose badly than work together with the person they hated."

"Got that right! I don't care one little bit about my old man or Sesshomaru," InuYasha said, glaring down at Myoga. "I just came to take back the Sacred Jewel shards and Kagome!"

"Well if that's how you feel…" Myoga said getting back to his two feet like a human, "…SEE YA!"

With that the bug youkai leapt to the ground before making tracks swiftly enough that you could see bits of dirt being blown into the air by his passing. Looking at the members of Kagome's group, none of them looked surprised by this so she took that to mean that they'd been expecting the coward to run off. While she could admit to being a bit afraid herself, she refused to abandon Xander, who she knew would stick around to help however he could, even if that meant being a decoy for the main fighters.

 _I might not be able to use my kiyohime powers at all but I can still be some kinda help,_ she thought as Miroku asked Hachi to change back into his balloon form. _If nothing else I can try to help get any hostages off the battlefield so the rest of them can fight without worrying about friendly fire._

She just hoped that Xander would be smart enough to stick to fighting the small fry rather than tackling the commanding officers in charge of the cat youkai.

Thinking for a moment, she couldn't help but roll her eyes as she realized that that was precisely what her best friend would likely do until enough near misses forced him to back off.

BOYS!

 _ **Xander's POV**_

Riding on Hachi's back with Miroku, Shippo, Willow and Sango, he looked down at the deserted town, trying to spot any cat scouts he thought should be there to keep an eye on the white hats.

Just because the cats probably wanted the lot of them to make it to the castle, it didn't mean that the catnip lovers wanted them to arrive in perfect condition. While the Chinese youkai were probably certain of their inevitable victory, they probably wanted to make themselves look better by making the white hats look bad. That meant that anything from snipers to ambushes every so often, right up until the arrival at the castle, would be the order of the day. If so, he planned on giving the group as much advance warning as possible so they could come out on top more often than not.

A minute later his vigilance paid off as he spotted a brief flash of crimson before a ball of flame shot up from the shadows heading for Hachi's underbelly.

"INCOMING!" he yelled even as he realized he didn't have the ability to steer the youkai he was riding or intercept the fireball before it could hit.

Believing the big balloon-shaped youkai would not be the most maneuverable of flying beings, he immediately picked up Sango and Willow before leaping for the nearest rooftop. Halfway to his target he heard Hachi bellowing in pain as he was struck and, just like he'd predicted, a pop indicated a reversion to humanoid raccoon dog youkai person. Glancing over his shoulder, he was glad to see that Inuyasha had possessed instincts good enough for him to scoop up Miroku, Shippo and Kirara because that last one was still feeling the effects of whatever the cat youkai had hit them with earlier. He hadn't gotten any details but he'd heard enough to know that, until the cute little thing shook off the effects, it wouldn't be carrying anyone, never mind flying.

 _Unh! Might be stronger than your average human but no more jumping from heights that're barely in my range,_ he thought as he landed on the roof, only for it to barely hold up under the impact.

"You guys okay?" he asked now that the exciting part was done with.

"Yeah I'm fine-" Willow replied before something caught her attention in alarm. "LOOK OUT!"

As one all three of them vacated the spots they'd once been standing on and it was a good thing they did since a second later a spear impacted, followed by a fireball. Unsheathing Nenekirimaru, he used it to bat another fireball aside before a big enough pause in the barrage appeared that he could identify the source. Much like he expected he found that Karan, whose arm he'd sliced open earlier, was coming at him with two subordinates following close behind. Judging from the look on her face, she was interested in slicing up his arm so they'd have matching scars but he wasn't interested in either the pain or the mark. Thus he leapt to the ground below and began to make his way to a more open area where he could evade her attacks more easily.

"Running away, coward?" Karan yelled at him even as she gave chase.

"More like changing the battlefield!" he yelled over his shoulder before reaching what looked to be an open area around a well.

Skidding to a halt, he turned to face his foe and was gratified to see that only one subordinate cat youkai was with her, hopefully meaning that the other one had been tangled up fighting Sango. Bringing the exorcism blade crafted by Hidemoto Keikan in another dimension, he hoped that he'd be able to stay alive long enough for the others to come and back him up. If he was right, then Karan would prioritize being present at the big event in the castle over fighting a battle she couldn't hope to win against the whole InuYasha crew. He doubted that she was stupid enough to fight one feisty hanyou, a priest with a black hole in his hand, a youkai slayer and a high school girl with priestess powers all at the same time, even with lesser cat youkai backup.

A fireball that passed close enough to his face for him to feel the heat made him focus more on the conflict than on what may or might not happen in a couple of minutes.

 _Well there's one thing in my favor,_ he thought as he ducked under a claw swipe at his throat before parrying a spear thrust. _Cat Lackey is sticking to a support role and leaving most of the fighting to the boss lady. Guess he's under orders only to attack in order to keep me from counterattacking. Smart move._

Still, it worked in his favor because, between the odd fireball and what he suspected were razor sharp fingernails, he was under enough pressure just dealing with Karan.

Minutes passed by and, while he had succeeded in keeping any of his own blood from hitting the ground, he hadn't lucked out and freed any of the redhead's either. Mostly what they seemed to be doing was creating nicks and holes in each other's clothes, with none of them being more than an inch in length. Considering the fact that he was still at a student's level when it came to using a blade in live combat, he was rather pleased with that. Sure, he'd picked up a trick or two fighting alongside Buffy but Giles had never once offered to teach him official techniques, so most of what he knew had been self-taught either on his own or through firsthand experience on the battlefield. That simply did not compare to someone who likely had centuries of experience on him and had been taught how to fight as a necessary survival trait rather than for competition purposes, like most modern day dojos.

Still, he didn't know how long he could keep it up so he hoped backup arrived in a hurry.

"Why don't you try fighting someone a little more on your level, bitch?" came a familiar voice before an attack was declared. "Sankon Tessō!"

Leaping backwards to avoid what was likely coming, he was disappointed when Karan also managed to get out of the way in time to escape the five crescent blades of light that struck the ground, gouging out trenches in the ground. However, seeing that InuYasha had arrived took a load off of his shoulders since his foe immediately classified the half dog youkai a greater threat than him.

"If I was so inclined I certainly wouldn't choose you, half-breed!" Karan said even as she worked to do some respectable damage to the hanyou. "Still, the master would scold me if I let you reach the castle untouched! Prepare yourself for pain, hanyou!"

"There'll be more than enough to go around, wench!" InuYasha said as he drew his transforming blade to fight all the more seriously. "You'll get your helping I promise you that!"

Seeing them getting busy, he decided that he'd focus his attention on the cat youkai subordinate that'd accompanied Karan only to be dismayed as two more minions joined with the first one and surrounded him. Deciding to try to hedge things in his favor, he once more attempted to execute the Shin Meikyō Shisui technique because, even if he couldn't do it perfectly, the distortion might make the cats hesitate to strike for a few seconds.

Time he could use to lash out himself and deal a serious blow.

Casting some of his focus inwards, he sought out the power he had discovered earlier and repeated the method he'd used back in the village to produce the desired effect. The only difference from then was that he increased the amount of strength he put into maintaining a grip on the energy in order to ensure it wouldn't slip from his mental grasp. Thus, with the most fear-inspiring glare he could manage, he executed the technique, hoping against hope that he'd get it right this time.

His hopes were answered swiftly as the cats soon had expressions of surprise on their faces before casting their eyes about the immediate area, as though trying to find something. Stepping towards the nearest one slowly, unwilling to sacrifice his grip on his inner power for speed, he waited until it was within reach of his blade before thrusting it tip first into the cat youkai's chest. Pain, shock and the desire to survive all crossed the feline youkai's face but, even as he withdrew his blade, it was already too late to stop what happened next. Like fabric soaking up water a spot of darkness appeared where the blade had pierced flesh and it only grew with every second that passed. However it was not a liquid staining cloth but rather a contagious transformation into black dust changed both flesh as well as clothing. Before even half a minute went by his victim was no more and it was with slight interest that he watched the dust drifted through the air towards Nenekirimaru. Once contact was made the blackness vanished, absorbed into the metal, never to be seen again as what power the cat youkai possessed now was added to what the blade already possessed.

"There!" one of the remaining cat youkai yelled, pointing in his direction.

 _Damn. My grip must've slipped a bit._ He reasserted what control he could on the power before changing his location to something other than what the cat must have seen.

His efforts worked as the two remaining cats converged on where he'd been rather than where he currently was, clearly indicating that he was once more invisible to the both of them. This was good because, so long as they couldn't see him, they couldn't attack him, leaving themselves open to fatal strikes.

 _I can handle them,_ he thought with grin of anticipated victory. _I CAN!_


End file.
